NEW DELHI – For two years, Afghan student Yasmeen Azimi has been trying to get a visa to resume her studies in India. But the 22-year-old from Kabul says her visa application has been rejected thrice.
Azimi was admitted to a postgraduate programme to study political science at Chandigarh University in northern Punjab state in January 2021 under a scholarship provided by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), an autonomous body under the foreign ministry.
But her plans to pursue her education in India were dashed after India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) cancelled all existing Afghan visas, including student visas, following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
As her visa process dragged on, Azimi eventually joined her course online, but eight months after starting, her results are still pending, despite making repeated requests to university authorities.
“There is no positive response. We cannot continue our studies this way,” said Azimi, who also faced difficulties in attending online classes as the internet was frequently choppy.
Her problems began on August 25, 2021, when India’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) released a statement announcing: “Keeping in view some reports that certain passports of Afghan nationals have been misplaced, previously issued visas to all Afghan nationals, who are presently not in India, stand invalidated with immediate effect.”- Al Jazeera