ISLAMABAD: Pakistani students evacuated from Kyrgyzstan after recent riots and violence against foreign nationals on Saturday lauded “tremendous and timely” support from their teachers and landlords, saying that they rescued and saved their lives.
Last week, violent riots erupted in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, following the emergence of online videos showing a brawl between local and Egyptian students of medical sciences. The mobs mostly targeted the hostels of medical universities and private lodges of international students, including Pakistanis, in the city.
Around 10,000 Pakistani students are enrolled in different institutes in Kyrgyzstan and nearly 6,000 of them were studying in Bishkek, according to Pakistan’s diplomatic mission in the Central Asian country.
The Pakistan government has evacuated thousands of students stranded in Bishkek by arranging special flights following the riots. “We are alive today due to tremendous, effective and timely support of our teachers and landlords shortly after the violence,” Bilal Ahmad a student of Vehari told media, adding, “Our teachers stayed with us in the hostel the whole night to protect us from the mob.”
He was of the view that after the situation normalized in Bishkek, local elders and officials apologized to the students for the violence. “They shared their mobile numbers with us to call them in any emergency,” he added.
Social media platforms were abuzz with different videos and photos showing the mob attacks against the international students in Bishkek.
The Kyrgyz miscreants barged into hostels to attack foreign students without discrimination. Five Pakistani students were injured as a result, according to the Pakistan embassy, one of them seriously. “We locked our doors and windows and reinforced them with cupboards, tables and chairs to prevent the miscreants from entering,” another medical student hailing from Quetta, said, adding, “We switched off lights of our rooms and prayed to Allah … We called our landlord and she immediately responded and rescued us from there”.
She took around nine students to her residence in her own car on the gloomy night, he said, adding that members of local communities, teachers and other university staff had cooperated with the students in the difficult time.
He further said the local community and teachers had widely circulated audio and video messages of apology to international students, including Pakistanis, a day after the violence, promising to do everything to hold all the criminals accountable.
He said his parents were worried about his safety, fearing that they may not let him resume his studies in Bishkek after the semester break ended in September.
Some students said the situation was completely under control in Bishkek days after the violence, as the local police and para-military troops took charge of the security of hostels and private apartments where international students were residing.
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