Nasratullah Kakar, a research student from Afghanistan, is a concerned man these days, because of the developments unfolding in his country.
Just a month ago he sent his family back to his native place because he needed more time for his research work at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Dharwad. Of the 15 Afghan nationals pursuing their higher education in agricultural sciences at UAS Dharwad, five returned to their native places in Afghanistan because of the COVID-19 situation, while 11 are now in the international hostel of the university here.
Kakar is in the second year of his three-year Ph.D programme in Agricultural Extension. An employee of the Ministry of Agriculture in Afghanistan, Kakar is pursuing his research under the programme of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
Like him, the remaining students are also employees of Afghanistan Government and are pursuing various courses under the ICAR programme.
They all are married and have joint families back home.
“We all live in joint families with over 20 members staying under a single roof. I have three daughters and a son and we live in a joint family of 21 members,” Kakar told The Hindu.
As the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan began, these students living several thousand kilometres were a worried lot. “Yes, we were all very much tensed initially. We frequently called our families to know about the situation. We are a bit relieved now as they are safe,” he said.
Just like him, the other Afghan nationals in the university were anxious. On Monday, they had a meeting with Vice-Chancellor of UAS-Dharwad M.B. Chetti, who assured them of all help.
Prof. Chetti told The Hindu that he had a meeting with the Afghan students and wanted to know whether they had any issue which required his intervention.
Some of these students are about to complete their post-graduation courses in a few months. “But our return would depend on the further developments in our country,” Kakar said.
Meanwhile, a senior intelligence official of the State Police said they had received no information of anyone from the State being stuck in Afghanistan. The official said that they had not come across anyone from the State, among those who have returned from the strife-torn country over the last few days.
