Govt forms inquiry committee on Bishkek incident

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday constituted an inquiry committee to probe into the factors and causes that led to mob attacks on Pakistani students in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek, ARY News reported.

The violence began in Bishkek on Friday night after videos of a brawl between Kyrgyz and Egyptian students went viral on social media, prompting groups of local residents to target international students, including Pakistanis.

According to official figures, about 10,000 Pakistani students are enrolled in Kyrgyzstan, with nearly 6,000 in Bishkek.

Pakistan has so far repatriated over 4500 students from Bishkek after the mob violence via various flights.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad today, the foreign minister said the committee will also investigate about the role of Pakistani mission at Bishkek for facilitation of students.

Dar said the committee will coordinate with Kyrgyz authorities and review all the findings and developments at Bishkek. “The committee will submit its report with two weeks,” he said.

He went onto say government will not stop any student in Bishkek who is willing to return to Pakistan.

On Tuesday, Dar visited Kyrgyzstan and inquired about the health of Shahzaib, a Pakistani textile worker who was injured during the recent mob violence in Bishkek.

The deputy prime minister was received at the hospital by Deputy Chairman of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers Edil Baisalov and Kyrgyz Minister of Health Alymkadyr Beishenaliev, the Foreign Office Spokesperson said in a press statement.

The deputy prime minister inquired after the health of Shahzaib who expressed a desire to return to Pakistan. At a special request by the deputy prime minister, the hospital authorities decided to discharge him and let him undertake further treatment in Pakistan.

Ishaq Dar also had held a meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart in Kazakhstan on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers.

Later, the two ministers travelled together from Astana to Bishkek.