When Faesal left the flight for Kamal in Ukraine – the story of two friends from UP

In the midst of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, along with human tragedy, stories of humanity are also coming to the fore. One such story is that of Mohammad Faisal of Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh and Kamal Singh Rajput of Varanasi. Faisal had an opportunity to return to India before the invasion of Ukraine, but he left the flight for Kamal, who is studying with him, and now both friends are waiting to return to the country in a refugee camp in Romania. Both are first year MBBS students at the Frankivsk National Medical University in Ivano, Ukraine.

What is this incident

Faisal got a ticket for the next day’s flight on 22 February to return to India, but Kamal Singh could not get the ticket due to which he was disappointed.

Seeing his friend disappointed, Faisal decided not to board the flight. The BBC contacted the two friends over the phone at a refugee camp in Romania. Kamal Singh said, “At a time when everyone had to run away from here, Faisal left his flight. There was a call from his mother and other family members that there was a flight on 23 February, but Faesal clearly told the family that he was not coming to India. I told Faisal a lot that he should go, I will come, but he did not leave me.

Faisal justifies his decision to leave the flight. He says, “Kamal and I first met on 11 December 2021 in Kiev, Ukraine. I had gone by Qatar Airlines, while Kamal Fly had flown from Dubai. We were introduced and then we reached Ivano by the same train and started living in the same hostel here. Our views are quite similar.”

On the decision to leave the flight even in the event of war, Faisal says, “My flight was on 23 February. Mother had called and informed, but I flatly refused. Instead of me, my contractor sent someone else by flight to India. One thing came in my mind that when I have good friends, I should not leave my friend’s side even in bad times. Kamal’s ticket could not be booked, so I also did not think it better to leave my friend and come.”

Families’ response

Kamal Singh Rajput’s family lives in Pandeypur in Varanasi. His father Uday Narayan Singh has a hospital there, while his mother is a housewife. Kamal’s sister Vartika studies in IIT Bhopal.

On the other hand, Faisal’s family lives on Bulandshahr Road in Hapur, Uttar Pradesh. His father works in a company in Saudi Arabia. Faisal’s mother Saira told the BBC, “The son’s flight was on 23 February, but we were all very surprised by his sudden decision to leave the flight. To be honest, I was very worried about my son’s safety and at such a time his decision did not seem right at all, but when Faisal told about Kamal, we thought that he might have done the right thing. Now both the children have joined our prayers.

Holding each other’s hand crossed the border

According to Faisal, he left Ivano on Saturday at 11 am. Here they were dropped about 10 kilometers before the Romania border via bus. From here he had to cross the border on foot.

Faisal said, “We had reached about 10 km before the border around 3.30 pm. After this Kamal Singh and I held each other’s hand. We said that we will not leave each other’s hand.” Faisal and Kamal did not leave each other’s hand even amidst hours of effort and huge crowd.

Kamal Singh said, “It was not easy to cross the border there. There was a huge crowd. Everyone had only their own. We lived in the midst of hustling for hours. At 3.30 am on Sunday, we started going through the border gate. In the shock of the crowd, we went to the gate with sticks. In the meantime, keep moving forward slowly.

When we were about to leave the gate, Ukrainian soldiers shot butts of guns on our shoulders. They were angry about us holding each other’s hands, but we did not leave each other. We entered the Romania border at 6 in the morning. This morning at around 9.30, after all the formalities, we had reached the refugee camp Romania. Now here waiting for the flight.

Studying in India is expensive, then went to Ukraine

Ukraine

• Faisal and Kamal Singh have appeared for NEET twice each after class XII.
• According to Mohammad Faisal, he had secured 512 marks in NEET in 2020-21, but these marks could only get admission in private medical colleges.
• Here the cost of complete education would have to be paid around 65-70 lakhs, which was out of the budget of his family.
• Kamal Singh also had 527 marks in NEET in the same year, giving the same reason, he also talked about pursuing medical studies in Ukraine.
• Government should help the trapped students
• Both the friends were repeatedly emphasizing during the conversation that the government should help the students trapped in Ukraine.
• Kamal Kumar said, “We know what trouble the students are in there. I have seen with my own eyes how hungry and thirsty children are trying to cross the border under the open sky in the severe cold. Many girls fell unconscious. The government should help them.”
• Dr Masroor Ahmed, the founder of Eurasia Education Link, is trying to rescue children trapped in Ukraine.
• Through his organization, hundreds of children reach Ukraine for medical studies every year.
• Dr Masroor tells BBC, “Mohammed Faisal of Hapur is my student. He had a flight on 23 February, but he did not go on that flight. Another student was sent in his place.”