NEW DELHI: More than 3,000 Indian students pursuing higher education in Iran, most of them medical students, are facing mounting anxiety as the Islamic Republic is rocked by widespread protests triggered by soaring inflation and economic distress. The unrest, now in its sixth day, has claimed at least six lives and prompted appeals to the Indian government to urgently step in to ensure students’ safety.
Fars news agency and human rights group Hengaw reported that two people were killed in Lordegan in south-western Iran, while three deaths were reported in Azna and another in Kouhdasht, all in western Iran.
The deteriorating situation has deeply worried families in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, from where a large number of students study medicine in Iran. The Foreign Medical Students Wing of the All India Medical Students Association (AIMSA) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, urging immediate action.
Iran has 13 medical colleges, six of them in Tehran, where Indian students form a significant presence.
Ahnaf Ishaq, a third-year MBBS student at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, said: “Nearly 70% of the students are from Kashmir as the Persian language spoken in Iran can be easily understood by us. We can communicate easily with the local population in hospitals.” He added: “The Indian Embassy here has asked us to stay put in our dormitories and we have been doing that for a few days. Of course, there is much uncertainty around. Our exams have been postponed and classes cancelled.”
Mir Mehraj, a final-year MBBS student at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, described the tense atmosphere. “I have seen vehicles and people with guns on the streets and the city falls silent after sunset. Banks, academic institutions etc have been shut,” she said and added that tudents are reassuring families back home despite growing fears about the coming week, when they have been asked to report for hospital duties as part of essential services.
The AIMSA appealed to the government to “strengthen co-ordination with the Indian Embassy, establish dedicated emergency helplines, issue timely advisories and prepare contingency or evacuation plans if required.” The association said that Indian students are spread across universities in Iran and are heavily dependent on local infrastructure, hostels and hospitals.