New Delhi: Passports of many Indian medical students based in Iran continue to be withheld by some universities even as several of these students have expressed willingness to return to India to escape geopolitical tensions, Jammu & Kashmir Students Association has claimed.It said that it is in touch with the students, many of them from J&K, and alleged that some of the universities are continuing with semester examinations, though most across Iran have postponed their exams till March 24 in view of the rapidly escalating situation. This, the association has claimed, is causing distress among the students and their families. In a letter to the foreign ministry on Sunday, the association sought its urgent intervention, while flagging what it described as a convergence of concerns. It urged the ministry to take up the matter with Iranian authorities, Indian embassy in Tehran and university administrations to ensure that these students immediately get back their passports. Urging the ministry to step in and address what it called academic coercion, the association also sought postponement of the exams and flexibility in academic requirements in line with Iran’s broader national academic response to the crisis.TOI reached out to the ministry regarding the issue, but did not receive a reply till the time of going to press.The association said the students had informed its Iran unit that the prolonged closure of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and the authorities withholding their passports have effectively immobilised them. Its national convenor Nasir Khuehami said “university authorities have, for several days, delayed the return of the passports and avoided responsibility, forcing the students to remain stranded against their will”.
