When I was coming to India for higher education I had a lot of apprehensions regarding this country as I wear complete Hijab, the thought that ‘what would be people’s attitude towards a veiled girl’ constantly haunted me, but when we reached Hyderabad all my apprehensions were alleviated after seeing veiled woman roaming freely here and there. These views were expressed by an Afghani student Alia Sa’adat who is doing MA in Sociology from Osmania University.
It must be noted that students of various countries including Afghanistan are provided educational facility in Indian universities under Scholarship Programme of Indian Council of Cultural Relations. Fouzia, Noor-ul-Huda and Farishta Waez are also doing M A in different subjects from Osmania University. They are also keen to learn Urdu. They told that people here are social, hospitable and helpful.
The Afghani students are also learning calligraphy from Mr. Abdul Lateef calligrapher. The girls also met Siasat editor Mr. Zahed Ali Khan. Indian government has offered Rs\- 1000 annually to the Afghani students.
Mohammed Riyaz Ahmed