As Indian students from war-hit Ukraine have started to return, a batch of five, hailing from Punjab and Haryana, landed in Delhi and vowed to go back to Ukraine as soon as normalcy was restored.
Gurkeerat Singh, a fourth-year student of Uzhhorod National University in Ukraine, was evacuated along with hundreds of others by the Indian embassy on Saturday early morning.
“We were taken to Hungary from where we have been sent home by the Indian government. We are on our way to Punjab. We are thankful to the government for evacuating us well in time,” Gurkeerat, who hails from Udyakaran village of Muktsar, told The Indian Express.
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“We all are praying that war would end soon and everything gets back to normalcy. At the end of the day, the common man suffers in a war directly or indirectly. We are waiting to hear when we can go back to our classes again. It is 110 per cent sure that we will go back to Ukraine to resume our offline classes,” said Gurkeerat.
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“As we were close to the Hungary border and things were normal in this part of the country, no bombing happened, not even a bullet was fired but yes, as war broke out in the country, we were living in emergency conditions. I was staying in a shared flat with other Punjab residents near the university,” he added.
Jashanpreet Singh of Moga, who is a second-year student in the same college, said: “We could not make out as to whether the conditions would turn worse or not as our classes were going on. Now we have been given an option of online classes and we will be attending that once we reach home and settle down.”
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Gurkeerat said: “There were 1,800 students in the university who were stuck after the war broke out and 1,500 out of them were from India. As we were rescued in time, we did not have to go through many ordeals. We were in contact with our family regularly.”
“A lot of people are asking us why we had gone to study in Ukraine. On behalf of all students, I want to tell them that education is affordable in Ukraine compared to India and we find the level of studies far better than what it is in Indian universities. Also, we get exposure to a completely different culture. The people there are so friendly and kind that we feel like home while staying in rented accommodations,” said Gurkeerat.
Ishmeet Turqa, a second-year student of the same university said: “I live in Zirakpur (in Mohali) and came in this flight via the Hungarian border. Though things were under control on our side as it is away from Russia, we have come back. We now just pray that a ceasefire happens soon and things settle down. We are hoping that life will be back on track in Ukraine once again. We want to complete our studies. The war has caused lots of uncertainties on the future of students.”
Muskan Walia, a first-year student from Bathinda also came in the flight which landed in Delhi. She too hopes to return to her classes soon.
Vivek Kumar from Haryana, a second-year student, was also part of the group that landed in Delhi.
