Srinagar, Jun 17: Saima (name changed) slept after many nights in a hotel room in Iran’s Qom city.
She travelled around 200 km from Tehran with hundreds of other students and found the much-needed sense of safety in the new city.
“In comparison to Tehran there is no sound of bombs here and very little tension in the air,” she said while talking to Greater Kashmir over the phone from Qom.
Saima studies medicine at a university in the war-ravaged Tehran, while her brother also studies at a different university there.
“I have reunited with my brother. We await our turn for evacuation through Armenia,” she said. Describing Tehran as “nerve-wracking” for students from Kashmir and across India, Saima is all praise for the Indian Embassy in Iran.
“The evacuation efforts are going on full scale and we have been lodged in hotels, our meals being taken care of, and officials are frequently visiting us,” she said.
Saima said students from other parts of Iran were being constantly brought to Qom.
“This is a transit city. From here, we have been told, we will be sent home via different routes,” she said.
However, for many students, the unclear path and the unfamiliar and hot city of Qom continue to be distressing.
Many students said they were living in 45 degrees Celsius temperatures in ill-equipped accommodations in Qom.
“The place where we have been housed has no air conditioning and it is sweltering hot here,” a student Mohsin (name changed) told Greater Kashmir over the phone. “We are not sure how we will be moved from here through the country that is under bombardment. Reaching Qom was not easy as we saw signs of recent bombardment from Isfahan to here. The Norduz border crossing which is the nearest exit into Armenia is about a day’s travel away. Indian students are being moved out through this route. It is quite scary to be on the roads while we have no other choice as well.”
Some Indian students would be taken through the sea route using the Maritime border near Qatar.
With Iran’s airspace closed, evacuation by air is not possible.
The anxiety of families of the students from across India, studying in various colleges of Iran has grown more over the past day when a bomb hit a student dorm, injuring two Kashmiri students.
A student whose video was shared widely on social media showed the deserted streets of Qom.
“This is a relatively safe place, but not the solution. We request expedited evacuation,” he appealed.
Meanwhile, reports said, 110 students from India had reached Armenia and are expected to reach New Delhi on Wednesday.
A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said, “The Indian Embassy in Tehran is continuously monitoring the security situation and engaging Indian students in Iran to ensure their safety.”
