Cheaper cost, cultural similarities draw Kashmiri students to Iran

An estimated 2,000 Kashmiri students, half of them girls, enrolled in medical and other professional courses in Iran are caught in the crossfire as the conflict with Israel entered its fourth day on Monday with no signs of abating.

- Mir Ehsan

SRINAGAR: While the Indian embassy in Tehran is facilitating the relocation of the students to safer places, worried families in the Kashmir Valley have pinned their hopes on the Centre that has good ties with both Israel and Iran.

According to officials, around 5,000 students from Kashmir are studying professional courses, particularly medicine, in different countries with 80% pursuing their degrees in Bangladesh and Iran. Kashmiri students head for medical courses in Central Asian countries and China also.

Over the past decade, the number of Kashmiri students pursuing professional courses in Iran has increased manifold due to affordability and a similar cultural milieu so much so that the Valley is known as Iran-e-Sagheer (Little Iran). Most students from the Valley are enrolled in institutions in the Iranian cities of Tehran, Shiraz and Kish.

An MBBS degree from a private medical college in India costs about ₹1 crore, while in Bangladesh the tuition fee alone is around ₹30 lakh, while in Iran the entire course costs ₹30 lakh.