Indian students cross Attari border to take exams in Pakistan

ATTARI: Despite the pandemic showing no sign of slowing down, over 200 Indian students crossed over to Pakistan from Attari international border to appear in final year examinations. The Pakistan government has announced to reopen all the educational institutions from September 15.
However as against a list of 354 students, only 204 students — majority from Union territory Jammu and Kashmir (UTJK) — went to Pakistan, while rest of them shelved their plans till next batch leaves. In addition, 74 other persons also crossed the border.
Most of these students left unwillingly and against the wishes of their parents who wanted the Pakistan government to defer its decision of reopening educational institutes for another month.
While talking to TOI before crossing over to Pakistan, Sana, a final year MBBS student from J&K, said students were compelled to resume their studies after Pakistan government “suddenly announced” to reopen the educational institutions.
After the imposition of coronavirus-induced lockdown, almost all the Indian students, majority of them studying medicine, came back to India in March.
She said she wasn’t happy about leaving but has to appear in final years examinations.
Another J&K resident Afshan Anjum, mother of a MBBS student in Pakistan, said several students whose names were in the list of 354 students decided to stay back. “We don’t have a clear picture of Covid-19,” she said. She said many students couldn’t travel up to Amritsar since they got information at the 11th hour.
“It is still too early to open colleges and universities. There is still a risk of Covid-19, let this pandemic pass or at least slow down. They should at least wait for another one month,” said Afshan.
Another medical student from J&K Nyla said she had come to India after Pakistan closed its educational institutions on March 13. She said her parents didn’t want her to go but she had to appear in the examination. “However, I believe the Pakistan government would have placed all the standard operating procedures (SOP).”
Resident of Hyderabad in Pakistan, Chetan, had arrived India for undergoing medical treatment in Delhi. “There was some problem during lockdown, but hospital staff in Delhi didn’t let us feel any problem,” he said.
Protocol officer Arun Kumar said other than students from J&K, there were 80 other persons had arrived at border who were stranded in various states of India.