London

Indians and several other international students unjustly accused of cheating in English language tests in the UK, are creating a television drama pitch on the lines of ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’, to highlight their struggles and seek justice in a decade-long unresolved issue.

The recently released ITV drama series showed how hundreds of Post Office employees fought back to clear their names after they were falsely prosecuted for theft and fraud because of faulty accounting software, forcing politicians to sit up and take notice.

The Home Office abruptly terminated the visas of 35,000 international students, making their stay in the country illegal overnight, after a 2014 BBC documentary reported allegations of cheating at two of the UK’s language testing centres for overseas students.

While some 7,200 students left the country after detention threats, many stayed protesting flawed evidence as they struggled with homelessness, huge legal fees and stress-induced illnesses.

According to The Guardian, students from India, Pakistan and several other countries, met recently to begin chronicling their prolonged struggle in a final attempt to bring politicians’ and the public’s attention to the issue, which largely went unnoticed in the mainstream.

Nazek Ramadan, Director of Migrant Voice, told the source that if it takes a drama to make people understand, then a drama will be made. He added that he has been inspired by how people have responded to the Post Office drama, and there are so many parallels.

The charity has been fighting for these students since 2017 and is now helping them to write their stories and has sought the advice of a film director, who previously showed interest in the charity’s work.