By the Editor: Siddharth Sehgal
Wars are always a tragic part of our shared history but just like people are differently treated in different parts of the world, wars are also treated and perceived differently. The discrimination and racial prejudice that Indian students, caught in the crosshairs in the Ukraine – Russia conflict, faced showed us a very ugly side of the country and society they were living in.
Even during the worst of crisis and humanitarian emergency, Ukrainian border troops and army found time to attack and abuse Indian and African students. This livid and inhumane behavior was caught on tape and shocked people to the core in India. What was the crime of these students to deserve such treatment, was it their nationality or skin color? Did these students ask Ukrainians to join NATO or did they withhold Ukraine’s membership in NATO? Can these students be held accountable or are they to blame, if the Indian government abstained from voting against Russia in UN General Assembly? Many African countries who condemned Russia’s action in Ukraine may have found their students at the receiving end of abuses and punches while being thrown out of evacuation trains at Kyiv Railway Station.
Indian Embassy and in a way Indian government too seemed to be caught sleeping when the war broke out in Ukraine. There should be an investigation into the response of the Indian Embassy as there are many reports of students complaining about negligence and unresponsiveness from the embassy in Kyiv. Those who are blaming Indian students for not getting out in time don’t know what it feels like to be in a foreign land where you don’t understand the history, culture, and language properly. Indian Embassies and government by extension, with all the resources at their disposal, are better prepared to assess the situation. They should have been more active, they should have made preparations ahead of time, but they didn’t. PR antics will not absolve them of their account but they can still redeem themselves if they can get the remaining students out in time before it’s too late.
New Delhi should use its influence and relations with Moscow to get these students out of the war zone. I do sympathize with the people of Ukraine but they should ask some honest questions to themselves, to the USA, to NATO, and the West. They should realize who abandoned them, who left them to fend for themselves? Ukrainians should have learned some lessons from the Georgians who are still waiting for a NATO membership after losing a huge chunk of territory and people to Russia.