Indian students detained at the Ukraine-Poland border have been making increasingly distressing phone calls, stating that Ukrainian security officers have been’manhandling’ and ‘ill-treating’ them because India did not oppose the Russian incursion at the UN Security Council.
Many of these students claimed they were kicked, beaten up, dragged, and even had their phones seized from them as they were detained in the frigid weather for over 72 hours. Sandeep Kaur claims that the Ukrainians initially allowed some students to cross but afterwards barred them from entering Poland.
“I was waiting in a group with my brother and a few of our pals. The officials first requested us to form a line, which we did. They later requested that the girls create a distinct line… They then allowed me to pass through the border while my brother waited on the other side. They dragged and assaulted my brother with a baton when he said he was in the queue as well,” Kaur said this correspondent.
Students expressed disappointment for absence of Indian Embassy’s support
The student expressed disappointment that no one from the Indian Embassy was present at the border to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities. “We met Indian embassy officials after crossing the Poland border, but there were none on the Ukrainian side.” On the Ukrainian side, the boys have been brutally mistreated. As the situation has worsened, my brother and his pals have returned to their college hostel.”
Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, declined to comment when contacted about the occurrences. Some of Monisha Kalburgi’s friends returned from the Poland border, according to Monisha Kalburgi, a student at Lviv National Medical University. Ukraine’s employees are dissatisfied with India’s preference for Russia, she added, claiming that this is the cause of the mistreatment.
“We left at 4 a.m. from Ternopil,” another student informed this newspaper. We were told by the Indian Embassy that the Poland border was open and that we may go, but we were halted at the border by the Ukrainian Army.” “It’s three degrees outside.” People are becoming ill. “When we called the Polish embassy, they advised us to call the Kyiv Embassy, who urged us to arrange with the Polish Embassy,” stated another student.
‘No one from the embassy is available to coordinate’
The student expressed disappointment that no one from the Indian Embassy was present at the border to cooperate with Ukrainian authorities. Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, declined to comment when contacted about the occurrences.