By Thomas Scaria
Mangaluru, March 4, 2022: Some politicians in India are being publicly criticized for their controversial remarks on student evacuation from the war-torn Ukraine.
The latest to draw public ire was Arvind Bellad, a member of Karnataka’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who said it was better to bring back more live students than a dead body from Ukraine.
Bellad, who represents Hubli-Dharwad in in the Karnataka legislative assembly, was responding to reporters on the status on bringing the body of Naveen Shekharappa, who was killed in a missile attack in Ukraine.
“While it is very challenging to bring back those who are alive, the dead body consumes more space in the flight,” the legislator told reporters.
Earlier, Prahlad Joshi, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, also from the Bharatiya Janata Party, commented that most Indian students in Ukraine were there as they could not crack competitive exams in India. “90 percent of Indians who study MBBS abroad would fail to clear qualifying exams in India,” he added.
Such remarks evoked sharp criticisms, especially from the parents of thousands students, who are in Ukraine amid worsening situation.
Shekharappa father said his son had scored 97 percent marks in Pre University Course but could not get a medical seat in India. “It is not the talent, but money only counts here,” he told reporters. He also alleged a medical seat is sold for millions of rupees in India, and not based on qualifying exams.
Father Faustine Lobo, spokesperson of the bishops’ council in Karnataka, too criticized the politicians.
“Instead of passing such controversial statements, the government should create appropriate policies and a suitable situation in India for holding back our youths,” the priest told Matters India.
Father Lobo said policies in India favor the rich and the powerful and ignore the common people. “That’s why our youths are flocking abroad for studies and even for greener pastures,” said the priest who is also a social activist.
Meanwhile Shekharappa’s parents have pleaded the government to bring back their son’s body.
Several people commented in social media that a dead body is carried in cargo section, whereas live people travel in passengers’ cabin, hinting at the ignorance and arrogance of politicians who make such remarks.
“These are insensitive comments from a government who lost empathy and commitment to the welfare of the people,” said Father Lobo, stating that Bellad and Joshi are just the reflections of the insensitivity of the state and federal governments.
Some elected members of the people, (not all, of course), have begun to pretend that they are above the people. They do not any more truly concerned about the welfare of ALL in India, but only certain sections. Statements like the ones from some BJP parliamentarians are signs of their callous attitude, and downright lack of culture and sensitivity.