40 medical students from state cross over through Sonamura border in Tripura
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 20: Altogether 710 students from India as well as Nepal and Bhutan entered Meghalaya through the Dawki land port from violence-hit Bangladesh over the past three days.
Another around 200 Indian students, including 40 from Meghalaya, crossed over into Tripura through the Sonamura border on Friday.
According to government sources, of the 710 students who had arrived in Dawki, 400 were from India, 302 from Nepal and eight from Bhutan.
The sources said 202 Indian students arrived on July 18 and another 198 came on July 19. The students included five from Jammu & Kashmir who came on July 19.
The sources also said that the students arrived in Dawki in groups. Subsequently, they hired taxis to go to Shillong or Guwahati. The state government provided a bus to ferry the students to ISBT, Mawiong but very few of them availed the service.
A senior official posted at the Dawki land port said none of the students sought accommodation. The official added that the students just wanted to leave.
Meanwhile, Meghalaya government officials are coordinating with their Tripura counterparts. The state government has been also in touch with the authorities in the Indian Embassy in Bangladesh for ensuring the safe evacuation of the students from the state.
After the students arrived in Tripura, the Sepahijala district authorities arranged food for them. Two buses with security were arranged to ensure the safety of the students and their comfortable journey.
As the students from Meghalaya were headed to Shillong from Tripura, dinner for them was arranged by the East Jaintia Hills district administration at Khliehriat.
Bangladesh has been reeling under deadly clashes with protesting students demanding the Sheikh Hasina-led government to scrap a controversial job quota system.
The protests by students are against the reservation of jobs for the family members of veterans who fought in the country’s liberation war of 1971. Quota allows them to take up to 30% of government jobs.
Over 90 people have been killed in the clashes that began weeks ago, though the exact number is not clear.
Law enforcement authorities in Bangladesh have imposed a nationwide curfew as the clashes between protesters demanding withdrawal of a job quota system and police continued across the country.