India was supposed to be our friend, through thick and thin. Politicians, both yours and ours, told us that. So why has India deserted us when we need your country the most? 

Like me, thousands of Afghan students who had been studying in India, had returned to their families in Afghanistan amid the Covid pandemic in 2020-21 and were attending college through online classes. Then on August 15, 2021, the Taliban fully invaded Afghanistan after the US troops pulled out of our country. Following the Taliban takeover, the Indian government cancelled all pre-existing visas issued to Afghan citizens. 

Since then, the Indian government has approved just about 200 visa applications from Afghanistan, most of those for Hindu and Sikh refugees escaping religious persecution. Meanwhile, there are over 2,500 Afghan students who are enrolled in university programmes in India but stranded in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Not a single Afghan student has got their visa approved. 

We’ve been pleading with Indian authorities to allow us to return to our university campuses in India so we can complete our higher education. But we’ve been kept in limbo for nearly two years now! Our universities won’t make provisions for online classes for us because their physical campuses have fully re-opened. 

Many of us had scholarships from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), but now, a few universities have begun cancelling the admissions of Afghan students, citing their inability to return to campus and for lack of attendance. 

I’ve completed my bachelors and masters degree from Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University, respectively. I was enrolled in a PhD programme at the University of Mysore, before my country fell to the Taliban and I found myself stranded there, unable to return to India. There are so many Afghan female students who’d hoped that after the Taliban takeover, they could study and work in India and send money back home to their families in Afghanistan. These young women also find themselves stranded in Afghanistan, unable to venture out of their homes since the government here has banned women from education and employment. Shouldn’t the Indian government let these young women continue their education in India? The Taliban government is committing human rights abuses and our closest friend, India, is not helping our young boys and girls. How can Afghan students who had been studying in India from before the Taliban takeover, be seen as security risks? 

We haven’t caused the Taliban takeover. In fact, we’re bearing the brunt of their abuses. So why won’t India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar help bring us back to the land that we trusted for our education? 

As per the news, India’s External Affairs Ministry is conducting online courses for foreign diplomats, and letting representatives of Afghanistan’s Taliban government participate in the same. But Afghan students, who’re the only ray of hope for a battered country, can’t get a word in to the Indian government.

The world may have forgotten about Afghanistan. After the Taliban invasion, our country is seen as a lost cause. But India being our only neighbour that stands by democracy, it can’t absolve itself of its responsibility in making sure that the next generation of Afghan citizens is one that’s capable of bringing about change.

It is really sad that in such a difficult time when Afghans need help, India denies to extend a helping hand especially to those students whom they supported for years. Throughout the history, Indo-Afghan relations have been a reason for the jealousy of the neighboring countries and we are here to keep up with all those humanitarian relationships. It is really distressing to see how the India who claims to be Afghanistan’s friend is tight-lipped in this situation and relating to the Afghan students’ problems. Indian government like all other countries (Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Russia) should decide and solve the problems of their students’ and help them keep up with their studies. As, India wants to be a big player in Afghanistan, so why is it not giving visas to Afghans? 

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