The incident after the suspicious death of Prakriti Lamsal, a Nepali student studying at the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University in Odisha, India, has forced all Nepalis to think deeply.

A Nepali student was mistreated by an Indian citizen, she sought justice but instead was a victim of injustice. In such a situation, the university administration should bring justice, but it oppressed Nepali students. Nepali students who demanded security were forcibly removed from the hostel. Is this the character of international educational institutions? Is this the Indian approach to foreign students?

Students go to India to study, families teach them with grief but they have to feel unsafe in that place? A Nepali student died but why did our government delay to take proper diplomatic initiative? Do we just talk about it every time it happens? Why does our diplomacy seem ineffective? If Nepali students still have to endure injustice in Indian universities, it raises serious questions about our state system. Who will answer if our brothers and sisters studying abroad are not safe? This incident has also taught a lesson to Nepali society. Should we just vent our anger on social media and keep silent or find a long-term solution? Will the government make any concrete policy for the safety of Nepalese students? Or, will this incident also be forgotten after some time? Not only in India, Nepali students have to face such injustice in other countries too. Now we have to think - is being Nepalese a weakness?

Now is the time that the state should take initiative to ensure that every Nepali student who goes to study abroad is safe.

– Santosh Simkh Dr, Tokyo, Japan