94 J&K students evacuated from Iran being brought back to Kashmir in buses
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday announced that the first batch of 94 students evacuated from Iran would be brought to the Union Territory from New Delhi in deluxe buses.
The students from Jammu and Kashmir were among the 110 people evacuated from war-torn Iran on Wednesday under Operation Sindhu. They were taken to Armenia before being flown to Doha. The students arrived in Delhi from the Qatari capital early on Thursday.
In a post on X, the chief minister's office said the resident commissioner has been directed to arrange deluxe buses of the Jammu and Kashmir Road Transport Corporation to bring back the students.
In another post, Abdullah said, '94 of our students evacuated from Iran have safely reached Delhi. The government is making transport arrangements to ensure their smooth journey home, which will be in place within the next few hours.'
The students, who were evacuated from Urmia in Iran, thanked the Government of India for its efforts. 'The situation over there is worsening by the day. It is particularly very bad in Tehran. Indian students are being evacuated from there. We are from Urmia University. The Indian authorities are doing a good job. All students are being evacuated and taken to a safer place,' one of the evacuated students told reporters.
Ghazal, another student, said: 'We are all very happy that we returned home and the Indian Embassy evacuated us properly. We are very thankful to them... The situation in Urmia, where we lived, was much better than in Tehran.'
Recalling the horrors of the conflict, Yasir Gaffar, an Indian national evacuated from Iran, said that they were witness to missiles flying over and loud explosions at night. 'We saw the missiles passing by and the loud sounds at night. I'm happy to reach India. I haven't given up on my dreams. When the situation improves, we will return to Iran,' he said.
Mariam Roz, another student evacuated, said: 'The Indian embassy had already prepared everything for us. We did not face any issues. We've been travelling for three days, so we are tired. The situation was not so bad in Urmia when we left. We would see missiles from the windows of our dorm,' she said.
Another student said, 'I'm a final year MBBS student at Urmia University. We saw drones and missiles. We were scared. Now we're relieved to be back in India. We are very thankful to the Government of India, particularly the ministry of external affairs. Our parents were worried, but now they are happy.'
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