Over 4,000 Pakistani students stranded in Bishkek airlifted

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah receiving Pakistani students airlifted from Bishkek, at Karachi airport

By Nasir Aijaz
The AsiaN Representative

KARACHI, SINDH: Some 205 more Pakistani students stranded in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, after the violence, arrived at Jinnah Terminal Karachi on Thursday morning. Chief Minister of Sindh province Syed Murad Ali Shah received the students at the airport. More than 4000 Pakistani students have been airlifted so far.

Out of 205 students, 150 are male and 55 females. Of these students, 99 are from Karachi, and the rest belong to different cities and towns of southern Sindh province including 22 from Hyderabad, 15 from Naushehroferoze, 13 each from Khairpur and Sukkur, 12 from Shaheed Benazirabad, five each from Jacobabad, Badin and Dadu, three from Sanghar (Tando Adam), and one each from Kandhkot, Tharparkar.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah receiving Pakistani students airlifted from Bishkek, at Karachi airport

The Chief Minister announced that he was arranging to airlift another batch of stranded 180 students, of them six injured, within a few days.

Talking to the media he said, “This was a matter of concern not just for families but for the entire Pakistan too. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other ministries established a crisis management cell immediately. “Today, 205 students have arrived.”

The Chief Minister said, “Sindh government will bear the expenses of the charter flight to bring the remaining students back.”

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah receiving Pakistani students airlifted from Bishkek, at Karachi airport

Shah said that the federal government’s concerned ministries and even Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were figuring out a way for students to continue their academic journey. He added that Chairman, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto used his personal contacts in Kyrgyzstan to ensure students’ safety.

At Jinnah Terminal the Chief Minister interacted with the parents who reached there to receive their children. He assured them that his government was making all-out efforts to continue the education of the students.

The Pakistan government operated special flights to repatriate stranded Pakistani students hailing from different provinces of the country. More than 4000 students were airlifted earlier since Monday.

Earlier, violent clashes erupted between student groups in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek, with reports of attackers using batons. The attackers forcefully entered the hostel rooms and wounded several international students including Pakistanis.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah receiving Pakistani students airlifted from Bishkek, at Karachi airport

The violence reportedly erupted due to a harassment incident involving Egyptian female students on May 13.

Kyrgyz police said they had mobilized forces in the Central Asian nation’s capital to quell the violence, in which hundreds of Kyrgyz men attacked buildings housing foreign students, including Pakistanis.