Evacuation of Indian Students from Ukraine: Uncivilised Behaviour by Some Ill-bred Brats
For, they are obnoxious, shocking and detestable. These rude, ill-mannered, ill-bred and uncivilized brats have shown their true character through their uncouth behaviour. They were unhappy with the arrangements made by the government to evacuate them and made it a point to express their dissatisfaction by spurning every gesture of welcome.
NewsBharati 23-Mar-2022 17:08:35 PM
Total Views |
Three painful videos have prompted me to pen this article.
Video-1 shows a group of Indian students discussing situation in a university in Ukraine. They are seen ridiculing advisories and warnings issued by the Indian embassy. One girl is seen calling them ‘all nonsense’. Another student downplays advisory by referring to the college notice asking names of volunteers for the forthcoming musical function. Finally, the student-anchor is seen declaring nonchalantly, “If we are not worried, why are you? Leave us alone.”
Video-2 shows students deplaning at Delhi airport and being welcomed by the Union Ministers with folded hands and rose-buds. The students neither respond to their greetings nor accept the rose-buds, displaying an utter lack of basic courtesies and manners. Whereas most pretend to be looking at their mobiles while walking past the waiting reception party, some go to the disgraceful extend of declining to accept the rose bud with a disdainful wave of their hand.
Video-3 shows a student throwing away the rose bud presented to him by a Minister contemptuously, declaring it to be of no use to him.
To say that the above videos are very disturbing would be an understatement. For, they are obnoxious, shocking and detestable. These rude, ill-mannered, ill-bred and uncivilized brats have shown their true character through their uncouth behaviour. They were unhappy with the arrangements made by the government to evacuate them and made it a point to express their dissatisfaction by spurning every gesture of welcome.
A word about these students will be in order here. They are a highly mediocre lot. Having failed to secure seats in medical colleges in India on merit, the only option left to them was either to pay hefty fees to the private medical colleges in India or go abroad for studies.
Ukraine is a highly attractive destination for medicine, dentistry and nursing. It holds no entry test – just clear NEET in India, pay and get a seat. A number of recruiting agencies are functional in India that facilitate hassle-free admission. Medium of instructions is English. Interestingly, unlike many other countries, there is no test of proficiency in English in Ukraine.
According to the official Ukrainian sources, there are over 76,000 foreign students studying in over 30 universities. The largest group is from India – close to 18,000 (a whopping 24 percent). There are some institutions in second/third tier cities whose standard of education is quite commonplace. Many are run purely for the foreigners and have no Ukrainian on their rolls. On the other hand, well-established institutions provide quality education and are recognised by the World Health Organization, UNESCO and the European Union.
After completing the course, the students can practice in Europe and seek permanent settlement abroad. They can also get a licence to practice in India after passing the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE). Incidentally, only one sixth of the students from Ukraine clear FMGE.
Most importantly, cost is a major consideration. For a six-year MBBS course, a student has to pay an annual tuition fee of USD 3900 and hostel fee of USD 500. Total expenditure for the six-year course works out to USD 26,400 or Rs 20 lacs. It is much less than Rs 50 lacs to Rs 1 crore charged by the Indian private institutions. In addition, cost of food is quite reasonable in Ukraine.
The war broke out on 24 February. Despite gargantuan efforts put in by the government, some students were unhappy and behaved in an uncivilised manner, as recalled at the beginning. Their complaints are -
• India did not issue explicit advisories in time.
• There was undue delay in their evacuation from the cities under fire.
• Arrangements made for their stay in the neighbouring capitals were not up to the mark. They were made to sleep in halls and not provided separate rooms. Food was not good enough.
A scrutiny of the complaints shows them to be false, misplaced and malafide. With the war clouds looming over Ukraine, the Indian embassy kept issuing advisories to the Indians to leave Ukraine temporarily – the first advisory was issued on 15 February, followed by stronger warnings at regular intervals. In addition, the Indian embassy started collecting details of all students studying in various universities. It asked all students to enter their details on its website. The embassy started working on plans for their evacuation, if the need so arose. Unfortunately, the warnings went unheeded.
Video-1, referred to above, clearly shows that the advisories were received by the students well before the hostilities began but they scoffed at them. They were confident that there would be no war as ‘the Russian tanks are going back’. Why blame the government now?
As regards the alleged delay, the Indian government launched Operation Ganga within 48 hours (26 February) to bring the students back. The Prime Minister personally spoke to President Zelenskyy of Ukraine regarding the safety of Indian students on 26 February itself. The first evacuation flight landed in Mumbai from Bucharest in the early hours of 27 February. The Prime Minister was overseeing the entire operation with frequent reviews. He held three high-level meetings within the first 72 hours and made several calls to Putin and Zelenskyy for safe corridors to get the students out. Russia acceded to Indian request for temporary ceasefire in many cities. It was a very rare and special gesture as no army agrees to halt its offensive operations as it gives time to the defender to reinforce his defences by remarshalling the resources.
In addition, the government despatched four senior Ministers to the four neighbouring capitals to organise relief operations. Both the private airlines and the Air Force were roped in to fly special flights to bring back the students. Every effort was made by the staff of the Indian embassies to reach out to the students at the earliest to organise their safe evacuation, without exposing them to undue risks. In short, it was an operation of unparalleled scale and dimensions – never undertaken by any government anywhere in the world. Most governments told their citizens in Ukraine to fend for themselves. No wonder that some students of the neighbouring countries have also thanked India for their safe evacuation. As on date, every single Indian has been evacuated safely. It is no mean achievement and every Indian must be proud of it.
Finally, the complaint about the lack of amenities. The students were transported from the Ukrainian cities to the border in luxury buses. The neighbouring capitals were flooded with tens of thousands of refugees of all nationalities, including the Ukrainians. Every item was in short supply. It was a challenging task for the embassies to find accommodation and food for them. Yet, the students were accommodated in the best available accommodation for rest, sleep and recuperation. They were provided food. It must not be forgotten that the students were not on a fully-paid pleasure trip. They were escaping from a war-torn zone to save their lives.
Now, we come to the most moot issue. Is the government duty-bound to ensure their safe return to India? Not at all. They had gone to Ukraine of their own free will, seeking a better future for themselves. They were doing no favour to India. For, they were advancing their own careers and not furthering India’s interest. Did the government ask them to study in Ukraine? No. Did the government ask them to sign a bond for compulsory service in India? No. Many would have preferred to practice abroad and settle down there, without ever caring to return to India. In short, they went to Ukraine in search of greener pastures. It was a purely personal and self-seeking undertaking.
If that be so, how can they expect the government to be responsible for their safe evacuation, and that too, in complete comfort with all amenities? Instead of showing dissatisfaction and anger, they should be grateful to the government for bringing them back safely. Hence, they should be ashamed of their uncouth conduct.
What should the government do now? As a taxpayer, I did not mind state expenditure incurred on their evacuation on humanitarian grounds. However, I strongly feel that all uncivilised students who behaved in an inexcusable manner should be identified from the available videos. They should be asked to reimburse the expenditure incurred on their evacuation (transportation by buses from Ukraine to the relief centres, boarding-lodging and flight charges). No help whatsoever should be provided to them for pursuing their studies in India. They deserve no compassion.
These arrogant and ill-mannered students must be made to realise that they have no great academic achievement to their credit. They must be reminded that they failed to secure a seat on merit in India. Their only plus-point is that their parents could afford to shell out Rs 20 lacs for their medical education abroad. Does that justify their conceited and vulgar behaviour?
As is apparent from the above mentioned videos, their act of arrogance and rude behaviour was deliberate and well thought-through. They knew that they were being video-graphed. They were also fully aware that such videos would be used by the cabals that are inimical to Indian interests to disgrace the country. To that an extent, their attitude and behaviour were anti-national in intent and content. They shamed the country and need to be taught a lesson. They deserve no sympathy or help.
Major General Mrinal Suman
Major General Mrinal Suman, AVSM, VSM, PhD is a highly qualified and experienced officer. He commanded an Engineer Regiment in the most hostile battlefield in the world i.e. the Siachen Glacier. He was the Task Force Commander at Pokharan and was responsible for designing and sinking the shaft for the nuclear tests. For that, he was duly decorated by the President of India. After superannuation, he headed Defence Technical Assessment and Advisory Service of CII and is considered to be India's foremost expert on myriad aspects of India's defence procurement regime and offsets. He is regularly invited to address various Indian chambers, associations and foreign industrial delegations. He is a prolific writer and has published more than 550 papers in different journals and newspapers; many have been translated into foreign languages. A keen observer of national concerns, his views command immense respect.