Students from Tamil Nadu and Kerala who had managed to arrive in Poland with no support from India's Minister of External Affairs, are now facing further discrimination, according to the latest reports.
Although the official policy was supposed to be “first come first served”, Tamil Nadu and Kerala students report being denied the same preferential treatment as North Indians.
First, you face discrimination for being Indian, then you are discriminated for being South Indian. South Indian students state that they being made to wait to return home from Ukraine despite having arrived earlier than North Indian students…@opganga pic.twitter.com/wrvqCGGiUD
— Ashlin Mathew (@ashlinpmathew) March 4, 2022
South Indian students had been left waiting for 1-2 days to be transported back to India, whilst North Indians who had just arrived reportedly transferred upon arrival, completely disragrding the "first come first serve" policy. The students also revealed that Ukrainian people at a Ukrainian school had offered far more help than the Indian authorities.
Indian Prime Minister Modi had personally requested that BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha serve all Indians stranded on the borders of Poland, Romania and Hungary. However, it has been brought to the media’s attention that upon arriving in Poland, Tamil Nadu and Kerala students were discriminated by Indian authorities.
After struggling to make their way to Poland without MEA’s help, students from TN are saying North Indians were given preference in flights. Official policy was 1st come 1st served but TN & Kerala students’ names were deleted in favor of North Indians.
— Suchitra Vijayan (away) (@suchitrav) March 7, 2022
pic.twitter.com/ZNTYAZKFNC
Congress MP Manickam Tagore stated that whilst it is not unusual to seek help from a religious organisation, students should not be subjected to any discrimination by government officials.
Students at the border explained that they were expected to travel 100km in 6 hours through dangerous areas prone to bombings. Unable to reach the west border, students even offered taxi drivers lumps of money, gold chains and any gadgets they had to no avail.
