Bring our children home

The quiet gathering of anxious parents in Bemina, Srinagar, should unsettle the conscience of the nation. These were not protesters driven by politics, but families driven by fear—fear for the safety of their children studying in a war-scarred Iran, particularly in the embattled heart of Tehran. Their plea was simple, urgent, and humane: bring our children home.
India has issued advisories urging its nationals to leave the conflict zone. Advisories, however, are only as effective as the mechanisms that support them. For dozens of students, those mechanisms have failed. Parents allege that universities and colleges in Iran have withheld original documents, making it impossible for students to complete travel formalities. In a crisis defined by speed and uncertainty, bureaucratic inertia can be as dangerous as the bombs themselves.
This is where governance must rise above routine. The responsibility cannot be pushed down the ladder or deferred with assurances. When Indian citizens, especially students, are stranded in a war zone, the response must be swift, coordinated, and compassionate. It demands diplomatic muscle, administrative agility, and political will at the highest levels.
The parents’ appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah underscore a broader truth: this is not merely a foreign policy issue; it is a test of the state’s duty of care to its people. Diplomatic channels must be activated to ensure immediate release of students’ documents, while evacuation plans—special flights, safe corridors, emergency visas, must move from paper to practice.
The restrictions that prevented parents from reaching Press Colony only amplify the irony. While security measures may be necessary, silencing distress is not. A democracy must be robust enough to hear uncomfortable truths, especially when lives are at stake.
India has, in the past, demonstrated its capacity for large-scale evacuations in times of crisis. That precedent now demands repetition. Every hour of delay compounds risk; every procedural hurdle endangers lives. The government must act—not with statements, but with solutions.
Bring the students home. Not tomorrow. Not after another advisory. Now.