Two Hindu refugee brothers from Pakistan who have been denied admission by IGNOU are expecting help in the matter from External Affairs Minister, Sushma Swaraj.
Kawesh and Wikeesh had applied for an educational course at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, but the university authorities dismissed their application since the two do not have a students’ Visa.
Authorities at IGNOU have clarified that their criteria for admission of foreign students to the university do not allow them to admit the two boys without an educational Visa.
The two approached ‘Social Jurist’, a civil rights group, to seek help in this regard. Ashok Aggarwal, an activist of the group, in turn tweeted Sushma Swaraj requesting her to intervene in the matter.
IGNOU denies admission to Pakistani Hindu Refugee students for want of student Visa – Lawyer tweets to Ms. Sushma Swaraj for help
— Ashok Agarwal (@socialjurist) April 5, 2017
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Kawesh Kumar arrived in Delhi from Pakistan in January 2017, while Wikesh has been putting up in the city since 2015. The young men are staying in India on a visiting Visa. Kawesh has said that both of them want admission in IGNOU. They have come to Delhi on a visiting Visa with their families and do not wish to return to their homeland as they have been facing many problems as Hindus living in Pakistan.
Both of them have completed their school education from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Sindh, Pakistan, though in different years and from different districts.
When contacted, IGNOU said,
Being a people’s university, it is open to everyone. But, till date we have been following the procedure of asking for a student visa. We are willing to give them admission but we need guidelines from the Ministry of External Affairs to do so without a student visa.
The government, and Sushma Swaraj, have given no comment on the matter.
