Afghan student in Kerala missing studies and family as visa impasse continues

Many Afghan nationals pursuing higher education in Kerala are not visiting their families in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover

An Afghan national who has been doing a post-doctoral fellowship at Kerala University is unable to return after he went to Afghanistan to renew his visa just ahead of the Taliban taking over the country in 2021 August.

Adding to his plight his wife and three kids are in Thiruvananthapuram. He has now managed to reach Iran and pleading with the Kerala government to assist him in getting a visa to India.

Many Afghan nationals pursuing higher education in Kerala are not visiting their families in Afghanistan since 2021 August as they too fear that they might not be able to return and resume studies, sources at the Centre for Global Academics that coordinates the foreign students told DH.

Gul (name changed) joined the post-doctoral fellowship in the Sociology department of Kerala University in 2020 December after completing his MA and PhD at Osmania University in Hyderabad. His wife is doing PhD in the Physics department at Kerala University.

Gul told DH over the phone that not only that his studies were affected, but his wife was struggling to take care of three children, run the family and do her studies. "My wife even got Covid infection in between and she struggled badly. The authorities should show humanitarian considerations to us," he urged.

In his representation sent to the government, Gul said that he went to Afghanistan for visa renewal and data collection. He got his visa renewed just a day after the Taliban captured Kabul in 2021 August. But the Indian government is considering the visa invalid.

Gul then obtained an Iran entry visa and reached Tehran in February 2022. Since then he had been approaching the Indian embassy in Tehran seeking a visa to India. But the officials are insisting on a recommendation from the foreign affairs ministry.

Kerala University sources said that the vice-chancellor took up the matter with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the state government had forwarded it to the centre seeking favourable action.

Other Afghan nationals now pursuing education here are also keeping off from visiting their families as they fear that they might also face the plight of Gul , said an official at the Centre for Global Academics.

A large number of students from Afghanistan used to pursue education with scholarships from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. However, since last year students from Afghanistan are unable to pursue higher education here owing to visa restrictions.