Anantapur: Tears of joy as students from Ukraine reach home

Anantapur: Seven students studying medicine in Ukraine have returned to their native villages in the district the early hours of Thursday while there more are expected to reach Benguluru from where they will reach their native villages in the district.

The tahsildars of their mandals concerned had received them at the Benguluru international airport.

The safe home of the students brought tears of joy to the anxious parents and native villagers. The death of a student from neighbouring Karnataka in the shelling in Ukraine had created a fear psychosis and anxious moments for the parents and villagers but the Indian government's swift and urgent action speeded up 'operation Ganga' and brought a sense of relief to all stakeholders.

Tej Kumar, of G Halle village in Rolla mandal in the district is an MBBS student in Odessa port city, Ukraine. Shelling is less there compared to other cities Kharkiv and Kyiv, he said. He told 'The Hans India' on phone that living in his room, he spent tense and uncertain moments not knowing whether he would see his homeland again. Sounds of shelling and bomb blasts in the city from a distance gave no sleep to his eyes. When Tej, who is now in the final year MBBS, reached his village on Thursday morning, the joy of his family members knew no bounds.

He said that he was starved with no food or rations for 4 days due to continuous shelling by Russians. Along with many others, he had crossed the border and reached the shelter arranged by the Government of India. The Central government, he said, did a very good job and special favour was bestowed on Indians. About 200 Telugu people and 800 other Indians lived in Odessa city. Tej regrets his MBBS course is almost completed with just 3 more months left. Now no idea when normalcy would return, he said in a tone of despondency.

Rakhia Begum of Kadiri mandal, a 3rd year student, is studying in a medical college in Vinnytsia National Pirogov Medical University. With Russia giving them grace period to leave their cities and cross the border, she along with a group of other Indian students hired a van to reach Hungary airport, a neighbouring European country. From Hungary, Indian government officials took over and made excellent arrangements to bring them back to New Delhi on Thursday afternoon and from there to Benguluru airport, she said.

Rakhia and her father Abdul Ghani told 'The Hans India' from Bengaluru that they are very happy at her safe return. She was given an affectionate reception at the airport by relatives and friends and Kadiri tahsildar. She and her father thanked the Russians and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking keen interest in the safety of Indian students. She recalled the horror she went through when a bomb exploded in the vicinity of her hostel . She also spent 2 days in a bunker with no food. She is now overjoyed at her reunion with her family.

Other medical students Dhananjaya, Nithin Kumar and Harinath from the district have already reached New Delhi and are expected to arrive in Benguluru late evening.

Collector Nagalakshmi said that all the 35 local students along with other Indian students had been rescued from the war zone and taken to relief camps arranged by Indian government, be it in Hungary, Poland or Romania, etc., It is a matter of time before all the students would reach safely, she assured as per the information reaching her from Central and the state government agencies.

Amuktha Malyada from Ukraine Medical University in her final year of medicine informed her parents in Kalyandurg village that she had hidden in a bunker for 3 days and moved along with others to Hungary airport. She assured she is safe and is on her way home. She added that she spent 3 days eating just biscuits.

Mohamed Khaif from Kadiri town informed his parents through government officials that he is out of the war zone but would take a couple of days to reach home. He said more than 20 other students trekked 20 miles to cross the Ukrainian border.

There is a general sigh of relief in the district after hearing that all Indian students, including from the district, are now in safe zones and are on the way home.