India: Pall of gloom descends on Haveri after Karnataka student’s death

Haveri, Karnataka: A pall of gloom descended on Haveri district of Karnataka after the news of the death of student Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagoudar in Ukraine spread sending shockwaves on Maha Shivratri.

The 21-year-old medical student was standing in the queue for food in Kharkiv on Tuesday morning when he was killed in Russian shelling.

Naveen had spoken to his father, Shekar Gowda, and had told him that there was no food or water left in the bunker he had been hiding in with a few others from Karnataka.

Naveen was a final year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University. He was from Karnataka’s Haveri and lived near a prominent government building that was blown up by Russian soldiers.

“With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family,” tweeted the External Affairs Ministry, confirming the tragic news from Ukraine.

The parents of other students who were with Naveen, have expressed anguish over the death and appealed to the state and central governments to get their children out of Ukraine.

Venkatesh Vaisar, father of Amit Vaisar, a student stranded in Ukraine said: “Naveen was with our boys, he went out to bring snacks. Since there was nothing to eat, he ventured out in search of food. What is the government doing all this while? It should take immediate action,” he said.

“Shekarappa’s [deceased Naveen’s father] boy died today. We all have only one child. All of us humbly request concerned officers to bring them back from Ukraine. Please do not harass us. Otherwise, we have no way out but to commit suicide. We will hold local MP Shivakumar Udasi responsible for our deaths. We have only one child, there is no life without him,” an emotional Venkatesh Vaisar said.

“Our boys are in touch with us. For three days they had nothing to eat. We have been pleading with everyone. We have also submitted a letter to Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Mining Pralhad Joshi, but there is no use,” he reacted angrily.

Sridhar Krishnamurthy Vaishya, father of Suman Sridhar Vaishya also hailing from Haveri, who is stuck in Ukraine said, though his son was constantly calling up local MP Shivakumar Udasi for a week, he is not receiving the phone. What should we do? My son has sent a message saying he needs help. He could see that his message had been read but there was no reply from the MP.

“Three boys known to us from Haveri had gone to Ukraine, one among them is gone now. We have pinned our hopes on God about the safe return of our children.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the father of Naveen. According to information, Prime Minister Modi expressed deep condolences while talking to Naveen’s father and consoled him.

Naveen was studying in Ukraine for the last 4 years. According to family sources, the tragedy occurred when he went out to have his breakfast.

The family of Naveen was also consoled by former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa over the phone. He has assured Shekarappa, the father of the deceased boy, that the government is with his family and all efforts are being made to bring back the Naveen’s body to India.

Family sources said, “Naveen had gone out of the bunker at 6.45 a.m. in the morning to the supermarket just 500 metres away in extreme cold to get some food. At around 8.30 a.m. a big sound was heard. His friend Yashvanth asked all his friends to call up Naveen. However, the call was answered by another person. Since they did not understand the language, they took the help of locals to know that Naveen has been killed and his body is kept in a forensic facility.”

The family has also been told that Naveen chose to stay with juniors and told his batch mates that he will join them later.

Indians made up around a quarter of the 76,000 foreign students in Ukraine, by far the largest number, according to Ukrainian government data.

The Indian government has asked Indian pharmaceutical companies with operations in Ukraine and neighbouring countries to help the students with food, shelter and logistics, including facilitating their movement to border areas, the source added.

The government has sent four ministers to neighbouring countries to assist in the rescue efforts.

The situation in Kharkiv is of particular concern, a second government source told Reuters. An Indian team has been positioned in Belgorod, a Russian city about 70 kilometres (45 miles) away close to the Ukrainian border, but has been unable to evacuate citizens because of the fighting, the source said.