The Embassy of India in the central Asian state of Kyrgyz Republic has advised Indian students to stay indoors, amidst reports of mob attacks against students from Pakistan. The advisory came hours after the violence that the Kyrgyz Republic blamed on “destructive forces”.
“We are in touch with our students. The situation is presently calm but students are advised to stay indoors for the moment and get in touch with the Embassy in case of any issue. Our 24x7 contact number of 0555710041,” the Indian embassy announced on X/Twitter on Saturday.
The announcement was followed by dozens of messages from social media handles purportedly belonging to Indian students in capital Bishkek who urged the Indian authorities to assist them. It is understood that the frenzied attacks are fuelled by social media rumours which started after a skirmish between local Kyrgyz residents and foreign students in one of the hostels for foreign students.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic in a statement blamed “destructive forces” for the videos that went viral during the weekend and said the situation in capital Bishkek is “calm and under full control, and all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security.”
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs the Kyrgyz Republic informs that destructive forces are deliberately disseminating untrue and false information about the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign mass media and social networks, especially in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.Therefore, the Ministry asks the representatives of mass media, blogger community, as well as foreign colleagues to be guided only by the official and confirmed information of the competent bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyrgyz Republic on Saturday.
Kyrgyz Republic along with other central Asian republics hosts a large number of foreign students especially students from South and West Asia. The central Asian republics are renowned for their medical and engineering institutes that have been hosting foreign students for decades. The incident in Kyrgyz Republic has not spread to other neighbouring countries, though sources have informed that heightened policing activities have been witnessed in Kazakhstan in the backdrop of the weekend’s developments in Kyrgyz Republic.
