PUNE, 6 October 2007 — Police and University of Pune authorities outright denied the report published in the Gulf Daily News of Bahrain on Thursday stating that more than 227 Bahraini students studying in Pune faced expulsion for overstaying their visas. The report had created panic among the Bahraini and other Gulf students.
The newspaper report is exaggerated, mischievous in nature, baseless and done with a motive to damage friendly relations with Gulf countries, said an official of the University of Pune. The GDN quoting Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, a Bahraini organization, said that Bahraini students were told to pay a fine of $200 or face expulsion and that the organization has taken up the issue with the Indian ambassador to Bahrain Balakrishna Shetty.
The paper said that the Indian envoy had assured the organization that the matter would be investigated and offered the help of the Indian Embassy to solve the issue.
Shetty told the newspaper that he did not understand as to why the students faced expulsion or why they are being fined. “I have urged the organization to advise the students to approach the Bahrain Consulate in Mumbai or the embassy in Delhi,” Shetty said.
Narendra Jadhav, the vice-chancellor of University of Pune refuted the news item which had created undue sensation and said that no such action had been initiated by the police or the university. “No student from the GCC has been expelled or deported though some students have just been asked to submit documents required for visa extension as specified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
Jadhav further said that it is totally false and baseless that the Bahraini students were asked to pay a fine of $ 200, failing which they would be expelled from the university and claimed that a “mountain was being made out of a molehill.”
Jadhav told the media that there were 227 Bahraini students enrolled in the university and very few have their documents in order, while the majority of the Bahraini students have not produced the requisite documents for extension of their student visas for another year on expiry of the initial thee-month visa granted by the Foreign Regional Registration Office (FRRO). This Jadhav said was mandatory as per the government of Indian regulations and the Bahraini students were advised to do so accordingly.
Jadhav said that even if the students failed to submit the documents within the stipulated time, it was a joke when the newspaper reported of the amount of fine. “It’s all exaggerated. In fact, the fine amount specified by the government of India is only $30. I have cleared the matter with the FRRO officials and the students also, who have agreed to abide by law,” Jadhav added.
