Deported from Iran, let down by India

The Indian students deported from Iran, in an apparent case of retaliation for the expulsion of many of its students by India, are caught between a rock and a hard place as the apathetic attitude of the Indian authorities is adding to their plight.

The Indian students deported from Iran, in an apparent case of retaliation for the expulsion of many of its students by India, are caught between a rock and a hard place as the apathetic attitude of the Indian authorities is adding to their plight.



For instance, the ministry of external affairs requested the ministry of health and family welfare to "favourably consider" the case of KM Razeen, who was deported in July 2011 when he had less than three months to complete his eight-and-a-half-year study programme that would have led up to his doctorate in medicine.



The MEA wanted to know if Razeen could complete his studies in India.

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But a letter from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to the MEA, dated December 29, 2011, asked him to provide all his documents, some of which are in Tehran. It also advised Razeen "to seek the assistance of the Indian embassy in Iran to obtain the necessary documents from the Tehran University of Medical Sciences".

Another deported medical student, Shoebur Rahman, who spent eight years in Iran, told HT: "We request the authorities to help us complete our studies either in Iran or in India. We have spent long years building our careers in a foreign country, and we shouldn't be left in the lurch. We hope our requests are heard."

Both Razeen (from Kerala) and Rahman (from Kanpur) had gone to Iran on an Iranian government scholarship.

The case of their deportation was first reported by HT.