Kyrgyz Ambassador Ulanbek Totuiaev has said that the situation in Bishkek is under control, and that suspects charged with violence will be punished according to the law.
During a media briefing in Islamabad, he asserted that the news shared on foreign media social networks were completely baseless, especially in Pakistan.
The ambassador reiterated that on May 13, a clash took place between local and foreign students in a hostel in Bishkek. On May 18, Kyrgyz citizens demonstrated to bring foreign students to justice. As soon as the information was received, the police detained four Egyptians and ten Kyrgyz citizens.
He further clarified that no one was injured in the riots and that the media is requested to refrain from broadcasting or publishing unverified information. He emphasized that all the rioters will be punished according to law in Kyrgyzstan, whereas Pakistan will be asked to investigate those spreading false information in the media.
Journalist Azaz Syed in his political talk show ‘Talk Shock’ recently revealed that the government of Pakistan spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring back students from Kyrgyzstan over “fake news and propaganda” while no other country did that.
Syed said, “A panic spread over social media over fake news due to which students got scared and the government also panicked even though the Pakistani Ambassador over there insisted that students are safe.”
“PM Shehbaz ordered the evacuation plan for students due to which 12 chartered planes were organized,” said The News journalist.
Azaz added that the government government paid fines for the few illegal migrants that were present in Kyrgyzstan. “More than four thousand people returned and many of them had no money to travel further in Pakistan or to eat, so the government made those arrangements as well.”
Azaz noted, “All of this over fake news. Look at India, their embassy released a press release for students to stay there because there are no threats. Almost 19,000 Indian students are present there and multiple other foreign citizens were also there and none of them returned.”
He further said that most of the Pakistani students who returned “were in their initial study years while those doing their house job or final exams before graduation are still there.”
“How will the returned students continue their studies now?” asked Azaz Syed.
Fakhar Durrani, another senior journalist with The News, stated, “There was intense pressure on the government by PTI propaganda online that they completely panicked.”
Over 350 Pakistani students have landed in Lahore and Islamabad from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Two of the three special flights landed at the Islamabad and Lahore airports on Sunday night, with 180 students on board each plane. The third plane was also expected to land later in the night.
At the Islamabad airport, the students who arrived were welcomed by federal minister Musadik Malik while in Lahore, the students were greeted by Information Minister Attaullah Tarar.
The Civil Aviation Authority had set up an immigration desk and provided transport to the students on arrival.
As per the instructions of the PM, the federal government will bear the expenses for these special flights.
Ishaq Dar downplayed mob violence
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar — who put off his trip to Kyrgyzstan — downplayed the mob violence saying the situation in Bishkek was normal and there was no need to panic.
According to Ishaq Dar, 16 foreign students, including “four or five” Pakistanis, were injured in the violence.
FM Dar said that the government would cover the expenses of Pakistani students wishing to return home as 540 students would take three flights to return on Sunday. He said as many as 11,000 Pakistani students were studying in Bishkek, and those returning would be fully facilitated.
He quoted the Kyrgyz foreign minister as saying that the incident in Bishkek was due to a “misunderstanding”.
Students say all is not well
Many students on social media said that the embassy was not providing any help and that the situation in Bishkek was still bad. They said that the foreign students were attacked by Kyrgyz students and locals, adding that they were not even safe on the roads.
Balochistan students ‘ignored’
In Balochistan, Sajid Hussain, an educationist, claimed that the government had taken no steps to bring back at least 300 students from Balochistan stranded in Bishkek.
“Over 300 students from Balochistan are also studying in Kyrgyzstan but they have not been brought back,” Mr Hussain said.
His son and daughter are studying at the Asian International University in Kyrgyzstan along with five other students enrolled there.“I am in contact with my children,” he said, adding that no steps had been taken for the return of Baloch students.
He claimed that the federal government was repatriating students from other provinces and that parents of students from Balochistan were being asked to pay Rs100,000 for each student.
He appealed to Balochistan’s government officials to take notice of the situation and make special arrangements for the province’s students. CM Bugti has reportedly established a special desk in this regard, reported Dawn.
“To reach the students, the foreign ministry is in contact with the embassy of Kyrgyzstan,” the CM said, assuring “every possible assistance” for the students.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on May 19 condemned a political party, a thinly veiled reference to PTI, for spreading disinformation and negative propaganda online regarding the Kyrgyzstan incident in which mobs attacked Pakistani students.
The minister exclaimed that “wrong news” was being spread on social media by a single political party to “humiliate the government” and it is utterly condemnable.
It should be noted that social media was flooded with news of deaths and rapes of Pakistani students which has turned out to be not true.
“I believe that such shameful act should not be done in politics,” he stressed.
Tarar said there was a clash between local students and Arab students, after which this incident took place. He added that the government is helping the students who want to come back.
“Kyrgyz foreign minister has said that no deaths have occurred in the incident and that the situation is peaceful,” said Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during a press conference.
Foreign students including Pakistanis are being targeted by locals in the aftermath of a fight with Egyptian nationals in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. As per news circulating on students WhatsApp groups, three students have died, many have been subjected to violence while 20-25 have been kidnapped but none of this has been confirmed by the Pakistani Embassy.
Many posts on social media had claimed multiple fatalities of Pakistani students.
However, the Pakistani embassy, citing the Kyrgyz government, has denied such rumours. However, it confirmed reports of “light injuries” to a number of students from Pakistan.
Videos of students in Bishkek subjected to mob violence emerged on Friday night, sending alarm bells ringing all over social media and mainstream media.
Pakistani medical students are in danger here in Bishkek , Kyrgyzstan.
There was a fight between Egyptians and local Kyrgyz people, but it’s being wrongly blamed on Pakistani students.
Now, Kyrgyz locals are attacking Pakistani hostels where over 1000 students live in each… pic.twitter.com/odmOzJE0dV
A Facebook user posted about his sister being stranded in the hostel but later rescued.
Mohammad Abdullah, a Pakistani medical student in Bishkek, told Geo News that the dispute started due to the harassment of the Egyptian students by Kyrgyz students.
According to Muhammad Abdullah, riots broke out after Egyptian students reacted against Kyrgyz students. Since then, locals are attacking foreign students all over Bishkek.
Talking to ARY News student, Rizwan Gul, claimed that the mob that attacked the hostels of Pakistani students took 20-25 male students away while the female students were beaten up by them. He said that they have been sent the kidnapped students’ videos where they all were made to sit together on the floor. He also stressed that all students are hiding in a corner to protect themselves while they can see that local police are standing around the hostel but not rescuing them. Pakistani embassy has also just released an emergency number on X but no official can be seen on ground.
Rizwan also informed Geo News that the hostel of International Medical University houses 1000-1500 medical students at the moment.
Hasan Zaigham, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, took to X and urged all Pakistanis in the capital to “remain indoors until the situation return [sic] to normal”.
He added that his office is liaising with local authorities to ensure students’ safety and posted numbers for an emergency helpline.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday said the reports of mob violence against Pakistani students in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek were “extremely concerning”.
However, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch shared a post from the Pakistani Embassy’s X account of emergency helpline numbers. “Amb Zaigham & his team are available on these emergency numbers (both numbers on WhatsApp). They have responded to hundreds of queries by students and their families,” she wrote.
Suspects held by the local police
As case is registered against the suspects as per local media.
As many as 29 people were said to have been injured in the brawls with 15 people being taken to various hospitals — including a Pakistani national who suffered from a fractured jaw and was visited by Krgyz Minister of Health Alymkadyr Beishenaliev.
The Kyrgyz media reported that the protesters earlier refused to disperse, instead more people gathered at the spot after which the authorities detained several of them for violating public order.
As per 24.kg, the situation was “stable” and “under control”.
Kyrgyzstan’s supreme council (Jogorku Kenesh) on November 29 supported a bill on changing the state flag in its first reading in parliament after 66 deputies voted for and eight people’s representatives voted against the document.
President Sadyr Japarov had recently criticised the design, saying that its central element looked more like a sunflower which in the local culture symbolizes fickleness and servility. Others joined in the criticism and the bill was proposed in the parliament.
Speaker Nurlanbek Shakiev, one of the authors of the document, said that if the flag is changed, funds will not be lost from the budget, and if the flag is changed in places where it is necessary, sponsors will bear the cost.
However, critics are opposing the hasty adoption of the draft in the first reading without discussion, calling it rushed. Representative Erulan Kokulov said that the flag is for every citizen. “This issue should have been resolved by a referendum,” he said.
The goal of the draft law is to “improve the flag, which is one of the main state symbols of the country.”
In a surprise move, India has invited Pakistan’s Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to attend an upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) scheduled to be held in Goa in May, The Indian Express has reported.
The invitation to the meeting of SCO ministers has been sent by the office of S Jaishankar, the Minister for External Affairs and has been forwarded by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad.
Were Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to accept the invitation, the visit would mark the first visit of a Foreign Minister to India in 12 years. The last minister to visit the neighbouring country was Hina Rabbani Khar who travelled to India in July 2011.
The unexpected development comes a few weeks after Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif expressed hope that relations between the two arch rivals will improve. In an interview with a UAE-based media outlet, the Pakistani Premier asked for “sincere and serious” talks with India.
The SCO moot in Goa will also be attended by China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Lahore on Wednesday topped the list of the most polluted cities in the world with the worst air quality levels.
India’s Delhi is second on the list, Poland’s Krakow and Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek are placed in third and fourth spot respectively while Bangladesh’s Dhaka is on number five according to the air pollution data released by the US Air Quality Index (AQI).
Screengrab of air quality and pollution city ranking
Lahore recorded a particulate matter (PM) rating of 364 that classifies the city under the “hazardous” category of air quality.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency regards air quality as satisfactory if the AQI is under 50.
