75 Kerala students being brought back from border states amidst India-Pak military conflict

Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi: Amidst the military conflict between India and Pakistan, around 75 students from Kerala, who were studying in universities in some border states, are on their way back home, the state government said on Saturday.

The students from various central and state universities in Jammu, Rajasthan, Punjab, and other places, along the border with Pakistan, reached Kerala House in Delhi late last night and early Saturday morning, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

The students will reach Kerala during the day and on Sunday via various flights and trains, it said.

Some of the students, speaking to the media in Delhi, said that drone attacks were still going on in places like Jalandhar in Punjab and many others, like them, were trying to go back home, but were finding it difficult to get air or rail tickets.

Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly V D Satheesan said that he spoke over the phone with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to bring back the students stranded in Punjab and Kashmir in view of the ongoing India-Pakistan military conflict and resultant tensions in the border states.

Satheesan said that around 240 students from Kerala are there in the conflict-hit states and they were living there in fear.

He said that the CM assured that urgent steps will be taken in the matter.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP A A Rahim on Saturday sought the urgent intervention of Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in ensuring safe and timely return of people stranded in the border states to their homes.

Rahim, in a letter to Vaishnaw, claimed that students and workers, including from Kerala, who were trying to return from the border states amidst the ongoing conflict, are "struggling to find train tickets to reach their homes due to the non-availability of seats in existing services".

"The overcrowding of trains and lack of adequate connectivity is causing immense hardship, leaving many stranded in transit cities or compelled to pay exorbitant prices for alternative modes of travel," he said.

He urged the minister to increase the number of coaches in all trains operating on major north-south routes, particularly those passing through Kerala, and introduce special train services from major stations in northern and western India to Kerala and other affected states to accommodate the rush of returnees.

Besides that, he also urged that emergency booking counters and helplines be established to assist stranded students and workers in securing travel arrangements.

"I hope you will treat this matter with the urgency it deserves and take swift action to alleviate the plight of these citizens during this time of uncertainty and distress," Rahim said in his letter.

Earlier in the day, the CMO statement also said that a 24x7 control room has been set up at Kerala House in New Delhi on the instructions of Vijayan to provide assistance and information to Kerala-based students and others in the border states, it added.

The control room at the Kerala House can be reached at -- 01123747079.

Tensions between the two neighbours soared significantly after the Indian armed forces on Wednesday conducted precision strikes, under Operation Sindoor, targeting terror launchpads in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that had cross-border linkages.

Pakistan launched a fresh wave of drone attacks targeting 26 locations in India -- from Jammu and Kashmir to Gujarat -- for the second night on Friday, with the defence ministry saying the enemy's attempts to hit vital installations, including airports and air bases, were successfully thwarted.