Maintain calm, remain safe wherever you are: Indian embassy in Ukraine to Indians
New Delhi(PTI): The Indian embassy in Ukraine on Thursday asked Indians in that country to maintain calm and remain safe wherever they are.
The Indian embassy issued a fresh advisory as Russia carries out a military operation in Ukraine, triggering a major confrontation between the two sides.
"The present situation in Ukraine is highly uncertain. Please maintain calm and remain safe wherever you are, be it in your homes, hostels, accommodations or in transit," the Indian embassy said.
"All those who are travelling to Kyiv, including those travelling from western parts of Kyiv, are advised to return to their respective cities. temporarily, especially towards safer places along the western bordering countries," it said.
It said further advisories will be issued for any updates.
Official sources in New Delhi said India is looking at ways to assist its nationals, especially the students, in Ukraine. They said India is closely monitoring the "rapidly changing" situation in Ukraine and how to assist the Indians in that country.
"We are closely monitoring the rapidly changing situation. Focus is on safety and security of Indians, particularly students," said a source.
It said the control room set by the Ministry of External Affairs a few days back is being expanded and made operational on a 24x7 basis.
There is no possibility of sending special aircraft to Ukraine to evacuate the Indians including the Indian embassy staff as the airspace of Ukraine has been closed. Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian flights in view of high risk to safety.
"The government is looking at ways to extend assistance to Indians there," said a source.
According to estimates, over 15,000 Indians are currently staying in Ukraine.
It is learnt that a series of meetings are underway to assess the situation and ways to extend assistance to Indians in that country.
The situation in Ukraine deteriorated after President Vladimir Putin announced a military operation into Ukraine, triggering serious concerns over the possibility of a full-scale military confrontation between the two countries.
Following Putin's announcement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said an "invasion" could be the beginning of a "big war" in Europe.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
