An association of paramilitary veterans has accused the government of remaining busy with campaigning for the Assembly elections and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give priority to bringing back all Indian students from Ukraine.

The association demanded that the Indian ambassador to Ukraine be immediately suspended for failing in his duties.

In a statement the Confederation of Ex-Paramilitary Forces Martyrs Welfare Association expressed grief over the death of medical student Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar in Russian shelling in Kharkiv on Tuesday.

“Political parties and the government are busy campaigning for the Assembly polls. It is a matter of grave concern that 20,000 Indian students were not evacuated in time,” said Ranbir Singh, general secretary of the association.

He said thousands of Indian students were still stuck in Ukraine and were not able to travel to India due to the war.

“Our confederation demands immediate suspension of the Indian ambassador in Ukraine as he failed to perform his responsibility properly by not issuing an advisory on time. The embassy failed to reach out to students. The life of Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar would have been saved had the plan to evacuate the students been implemented on time,” Singh said.

The students, he said, are suffering in sub-zero temperatures inside bunkers and their condition on foreign soil is miserable.

“The confederation appeals to Prime Minister Modi to bring back all the students trapped in Ukraine at the earliest. More aircraft of the Indian Air Force should be used so that all students can be brought back home in time,” Singh said.

Many of the students who have been evacuated have complained that the government acted late, because of which they faced harassment and went through a torrid time in war-ravaged Ukraine.

Divyanshu Singh, a student who landed in Delhi from Ukraine on Thursday, criticised the government for not acting on time to rescue Indians.

Holding up the rose given to him by Indian officials at Delhi airport, he said: “Officials are giving us roses at the airport. But when we were stranded at the borders, nobody came to help us. Had the government evacuated us on time, there would have been no need for these show-offs.”

A resident of Motihari in Bihar, Divyanshu told NDTV that he had crossed over to Hungary along with other students after the Russian invasion began.

“We received help only after we crossed the border into Hungary. There was no help from the Indian embassy before that. Whatever we did, we did on our own,” he said.

Divyanshu said local people helped the students.

“It is true that some students faced harassment at the Poland border. Our government is responsible for our wretched condition. If the government had taken measures at the right time, we would not have faced any problems. Look, the US was the first to ask its citizens to leave Ukraine,” he said.

Several ministers of the Modi government have been greeting the students returning from Ukraine with chants of “Bharat Mata ki jai” and roses. Social media users have described the move as a “PR stunt” and the ministers as “event managers”.