Srinagar, Mar 3: With explosions rocking the Iranian cities, desperate parents of Kashmiri students stranded in the conflict zone made an emotional appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday, urging them to either evacuate their children immediately or relocate them to safer areas within Iran.
Shajda, the mother of an MBBS student stuck in Iran, told Kashmir Convener that students trapped in Tehran have been conveying their fear to families back home in Kashmir, describing a city under siege.
“Whenever they call, they are crying. There are a lot of explosions. They say the next one could fall on our building too,” a parent said, struggling to hold back tears. “Please, this is our request. Please bring back our children.”
Another parent, Raja Asif, who spoke on behalf of a group of families, described the situation as life-threatening. “We sent our children there to study. We did not send them there to die. But now they are in the jaws of death. I spoke to a child this morning. He said there is blood everywhere. Nothing else is visible.”
Parents alleged that commercial flight options were virtually non-existent, with only one weekly flight operating between Tehran and Delhi, and seats being booked weeks in advance. “My daughter tried to arrange a ticket 10 days before coming home. There was no space even 15 days before that,” one father said.
While acknowledging the government’s evacuation of 600 students from other regions, parents questioned why their children remained in Tehran, the city believed to be the most volatile. “We belong to a powerful country. We have Modi sir and Jaishankar sir behind us. We are proud, but we are also heartbroken,” another parent said.
Shakeel Ahmad Rather, whose nephew is among the stranded students, said families were living in a state of constant dread. “We don’t eat. We don’t sleep. We just wait for the phone to ring. And when it rings, we are scared to pick up because we don’t know what news we will hear. Last night, my nephew called at 2 AM. He was whispering. He said, ‘Uncle, there is firing outside. I think it’s close.’ Then the line went dead. We haven’t heard from him since. Please, Prime Minister sir, hear our prayer. Bring our children back.”
“If they cannot bring them home right now, at least move them out of Tehran,” said Muhammad Yusuf Mir. “Tehran is the most badly hit. Move them to some small city, some village, anywhere where there are no bombs. My son said the embassy is arranging buses for some students. Thank God for that. But what about the others? What about those still waiting? Every minute matters. Every minute.”
Another parent, Ali Muhammad Dar, said his son had given up hope. “He called me yesterday and said, ‘Abbu, I don’t think I’m coming home. Take care of everyone.’ I screamed at him not to talk like that. But after he hung up, I realized—he was saying goodbye. My son is saying goodbye to me. What kind of world is this?”
Some families urged the government to at least relocate students from Tehran to safer zones within Iran if immediate evacuation was not feasible. “If we have to pay money, if we have to pay for tickets, we are ready. Just bring them back. At least initially, relocate them to safe zones from Tehran. Tehran is the most badly hit zone at the moment,” a mother pleaded.
Amid the escalating crisis, the Embassy of India in Tehran has initiated precautionary measures. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association, Indian students have been shifted from Tehran to the city of Qom in buses arranged by the embassy.
“Amid the ongoing escalation and continuous airstrikes, with Tehran being among the worst-affected cities, the Embassy of India in Tehran has initiated the relocation of Indian students to safer locations as a precautionary measure in view of the deteriorating security situation,” the association said in a statement.
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