Afghan students living in Ahmedabad, Gujarat; a feature

By Barakat Rawnaq

After fall of Taliban regime in 2001, India and Afghanistan opened a new window of mutual relations. India, America and Europian countries have been rebuilding Afghanistan since fall of Taliban regime. It includes construction, training and supply to Afghanistan national army and scholarships to Afghan students. India didn’t have any relation to Afghan regime under Pakistan-supported Taliban.

India started offering scholarships to Afghan students since past several years and thousands of Afghan students have been availed opportunity to study in India and go back to their country to make Afghanistan better. By offering scholarships, India wants more qualified and professionalized Afghans to serve betterment of Afghanistan.

India opened its embassy in Afghan capital Kabul after fall of Taliban regime and started issuing visa. India also opened a new cultural center by the name of Indian Council for Cultural and Relation (ICCR) in Kabul.

Thanks to these developments, there’s a small, happy and young Afghanistan living in Ahmedabad. There are over 100 Afghan students living in Ahmedabad shaping their own future and in a way Afghanistan’s future.

Over 10,000 Afghan student have graduated in past few years from various universities in India and they are now serving for good of Afghan citizens. In addition to this, there are already more than 7,000 Afghan student currently studding in different fields across India.

India’s ICCR which functions globally, is involved in processing of scholarships, conducting exams and issuing visa for successful students. It has given thousands of scholarships to Afghans in past few years.

Afghan student have graduated from and are studying in different colleges of Gujarat University too, most of them in bachelor level. More than 50 Afghan students live in Gujarat University hostel through ICCR. In this report we talked with some of them and asked about their experience of living here.

Baser Bakhtyari, another Afghan student who is doing PhD in psychology at Gujarat University says, “First reason to choose this place for education is that over the past few decades there has been a great improvement in higher education in India. Most of the universities are accredited, and have the norms and standards in place. The universities have qualified lecturers, and many of them are graduated from well- known universities of the world. The teaching and learning materials are updated. Then there are a lot of cultural similarities between India and Afghanistan. Friendly environment was another reason for me to choose India for my higher study. People are open-minded, and really helpful. Last but not least, the scholarship that I received from the Indian government are very important. Without scholarships, it was difficult for me to pursue my PhD.”

Baser further says, ‘I have found Gujarat a wonderful place to live. This is the city of Mahatma Gandhi, where people are more religious. They are friendly and open-minded, helpful and cooperative. I think Gandhi’s thoughts have influenced people’s behavior and thought process, that’s why people in this city try to be more helpful, polite, and cooperative. I have consumed Gujarat food in Gandhi Nagar, it is really delicious. The only problem I face in Gujarat is the local language. As I don’t know Hindi, sometimes I face with problem.’

When asked him to compare Indian educational system with Afghanistan, he said “It is not easy to compare the higher education system of both countries. Higher education in India is much developed than Afghanistan. This is due to continuous improvement over the past few decades. India has so many professors, PhDs, and generally highly educated people compared to Afghanistan where we have few of them.”

“I always wanted to study abroad, so when I got the opportunity of ICCR scholarship, I decided to study in India. Furthermore, I really enjoy my stay here in India and especially in Gujarat, where the people are very friendly and the city is calm and secure.” Said Adel Rasheed who is pursuing his bachelor in TY-BBA in Gujarat University.

Adel added, “I haven’t tried Gujarati food because they seem spicy and I am unfamiliar with spicy food, so I prefer Afghan food instead. Honestly there is a huge difference between the higher education system in these two countries, for example in India the students should write more pages of answer-sheer compared to Afghanistan.”

Over one hundreds Afghan students presently study in Gujarat state and most of them are enrolled in Gujarat University. Nearly twenty Afghan students graduated in previous years from here. Afghan students live in a Hostel which provided to them by ICCR. Many students are also living outside the hostel privately also. There are more than twenty girls also among the Afghan students in Ahmedabad.

Sakina Nazari, a student of Mass Communication and Journalism in Gujarat University, says, ‘I choose India for study abroad, because of two main reasons; firstly, in India the medium of college education is English which is an international language and secondly, India has achieved very high progress in higher education. I find Gujarat comfortable, with kind and friendly people around and varieties of cultures and religious practices. Also because Gujarat is a progressed state.’

‘If I start comparing my country with Gujarat, they are many different in many aspects. Here the weather is terribly hot. Then there are different kinds of mosquitoes here. In my country, the weather is very comfortable and nice.’

‘I have not tried too many Gujarati food items, but yes I tried Samosa and Indian tea and both were awesome. The food is completely different, most Indians are vegetarian and Afghans mostly use meat. Here we see lots of trees and green places but in my country there are few trees and green places.’

Yassamin Ahmadi who is pursuing her bachelor in Institute of Business Administration in Som-Lalit college says, ‘I am from a country where it is very difficult for women and girls to study and do job. They can not drive car because people think it is a shame to that family and to the society, but in fact it is not like that. They should know that society needs both men as well as women to take each other’s hand and work for the best version of their country.’

‘I always wanted to take my bachelor degree from India, As we all know that India is a developing country and it is one among best countries in the areas of technology and economic education, that is the second reason why I chose India for doing my bachelor. I am studying at Som-Lalit College which is affiliated to Gujarat University. Needless to say that Gujarat state is one of the safest states in whole India, I have visited so many states and cities but I could not find any other place safer and calmer than Gujarat. It is a developed state, and it is the place of father of India (Gandhi) and other big leaders. Gujarati people are so hospitable and friendly. Of course every country’s culture is exclusive and different. India is one of those countries which is very famous from it is sweets. The food is awesome here. I really love Indian food, especially the varieties of sweets.” Said Yassamin Ahmadi.

As we talked we found many of the Afghan Girls the feel safe and enjoying their study in Gujarat. They have mixed into Gujarati culture and now know lot about India and especially Gujarat.

Every year new Afghan students join Gujarat University and get chance to be with fellow Afghan students here via ICCR aid.

Mohammad Ahsan, who is pursuing B.C.A course has different experience and view on study in India. “When we speak about India, it is like we speak about one country which has multi-language, multi-culture, multi-religion and multi-nation population. We can find every kind of people, someone is rich with lot of businesses in India and across the world, but at the same time also someone who lives in the street without having anything. Some months in Gujarat are very hard for live due to weather, but some other months are better. This is a religious state where we can find various religious practices. This is also an industrial state which export the materials to other places.”

Afghanistan which went through a long period of war stayed backward and undeveloped as a country. Long instability damaged the educational bases in Afghanistan. Even after fall of Taliban in 2001, the country still needs foreign assistance and can’t stand on its own.

In this case, the most Afghan students desire to study abroad and get more professionalized. Every year thousands of Afghan students decide to go abroad to realize their dreams.

“Before I arrived in India, I thought India is one of those countries which offers high quality education. I also thought that India will change my idea about life, people, education and another things . I also believed that I will learn other languages like Hindi, English. I will get to experience different culture, food, historical places, natural places and also learn about some of famous persons in India. I thought India is one of the countries offering higher education in the spectrum such as technology and computer. For these reasons, I chose India and also chose computer science as area of study.” Said Mohammad Ahsan.

Afghanistan is a land locked country that has 34 provinces with approximately 33 million population, of which most are farmers. Fresh fruits is major item of export in Afghanistan. Good relations between India and Afghanistan have resulted into some good deals, be it trade or education. As one of the cabinet members of Afghan government on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘we are exporting fruits to India and India is exporting professionals to Afghanistan’.

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