The mortal remains of Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagaudar, a medical student from Karnataka, who was killed in Russian shelling in war-torn Ukraine, arrived at the airport in Bengaluru on Monday, March 21.
Naveen, a final-year medical student at Kharkiv National Medical University, died on March 1, in the conflict zone. Gyanagaudar's family members and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai were among the others present at the airport to receive the body, as per a report in PTI.
Manoj Rajan, the nodal officer appointed by the state government for the evacuation of Karnataka students from Ukraine, stated that 572 Karnataka students have been brought back from the war-torn country. He explained that Naveen's mortal remains were kept at Kyiv Medical College after a request on humanitarian grounds to the authorities in Ukraine.
The documentation was done through a funeral agent and the body was brought to Varsa in Poland from Kyiv and then, via Dubai, it reached the Bengaluru airport. It has now been taken to the student's native town of Haveri in an ambulance. Naveen's parents have decided to donate the body to a private hospital in Davangere after paying their last respects.
Stating that it is unfortunate that Naveen lost his life in the conflict zone, Bommai speaking to reporters said, "Initially, we were also skeptical about the possibility of bringing the body from the war zone. Often, it is difficult for the bodies of soldiers to be returned from conflict zones and getting a citizen's body back is nothing short of a miracle," said the Chief Minister, as quoted in a report by PTI.
Saleem Ahmad, an MLC from the Congress, who was present at the airport stated that he came to pay homage to Naveen on behalf of the party, reported IANS. Calling for a change in the education system, Ahmad said, "Thousands of students are forced to leave the country for studies. Naveen could not get an MBBS seat here even after scoring 96 per cent."
Urging the government to look into the problems surrounding NEET exam, the MLC asked the government to "prioritise and resolve the issue". "There are many fault lines in the NEET and students are meted out with injustice. Students should be given the opportunity to study," he asserted.
