Offline exams not possible without visas: Afg students

Chandigarh: On Monday, foreign students enrolled in Panjab University (PU) received a mail from the PU authorities on the decision taken by the authorities regarding the MST/term-end exams, which stated that the end semester examination of the foreign students will be held offline. The decision has not gone well with a section of foreign students hailing from Afghanistan, as they are yet to receive their visas after the sudden Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
Around 60 Afghan students are enrolled in various varsity departments and have been unable to return to India since the country’s takeover by the Taliban last year. The PU authorities in their move to support these students in their studies started online classes, but according to the students it is of little help and now the decision of offline exams and the advisory by the PU has put them in a difficult situation.
Abdul Qahar, a student of UIAMS, told TOI, “We are in communication with the authorities of Afghanistan for our visa procurement and they have assured us that in a couple of months, we will receive our visas. But we are not sure how long will it take, what if we are unable to get visas, what happens next? I am in a very doubtful state of mind, we will write to the PU authorities about the same and seek some assurance for our future.”
Another student, Ahamd Safa Faisal of UIAMS said, “The authorities have been helping through online classes, which we appreciate. We are around 30 Afghan students in one class and also three Africans students whose Visa problems seems to be solved, but our problem has political and security angle. Therefore, there is not any sign that the visa issue of Afghan students stuck in Afghanistan will be solved sooner, we are worried what if we are unable to get the visa, we respect all the decisions, but the authorities should think about us.”
Abdul Monir Kakar, president of Afghanistan student association said, “There should have been some consideration given to students from Afghanistan, who actually have a genuine reason, the authorities could have mentioned some relief for them.
Deepti Gupta, dean, international students, said, “The exam has to be offline for all. We will provide all the support to Afghan students. If they need any letter from the university for procuring their visas, we will provide them.”