Srinagar, March 6 -- Nearly 1,100 to 1,500 J&K medical students remain stranded in Iran as the war rages, their lives and careers at stake. Despite an MEA advisory to leave, many students stayed for the critical March 5 national exams (Uloompaya), which were only postponed at the eleventh hour following US-Israeli strikes.

Currently, of the estimated 2,000 J&K-origin students in Iran, about half have returned, while the rest face disrupted communication and closed airspace. Panicked families in Srinagar are now demanding their safe evacuation and lateral adjustment into J&K's government medical colleges. The adjustment remains a legal hurdle and also J&K doesn't have enough seats to accommodate these medical students, however, migration ...