The deadly riots roiling Bangladesh amid anti-quota protests have upended the lives of thousands of Indians and their families.

From students to traders and other professionals, all are feeling the heat of the bloodshed that has claimed 151 lives so far in the South Asian country of 169 million people, reports Nikkei Asia.

"We could hear gunshots and firing just outside our campus," said Shivendu Sarkar, 21, a second-year student at the City Medical College in Gazipur, 25 kilometers from Dhaka, the capital.

"My panic-ridden parents were trying to reach me but couldn't as internet and mobile services were all down." "Somehow they booked and sent me my air tickets," Sarkar said. "My college transported me and 12 other students in an ambulance to the airport and we took the first flight back home”.

He landed in New Delhi early on Monday having grabbed whatever he could from his hostel room. Sarkar is among thousands of Indian students who flock to Bangladesh each year to avail themselves of the country's affordable medical education. "We don't know what lies ahead of us," he said.

The violent clashes between the protesters and members of the ruling Awami League's student wing began earlier this month after a high court ruling reinstated a quota of government jobs for family members of freedom fighters in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. The provision had been scrapped after widespread protests in 2018.

The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has now whittled down the proposed reservation across various categories from 56 percent to 7.

With no signs of a truce between the warring parties, officials in India's foreign ministry say they are anxious about the ‘spillover effect’ of the unrest. Already, over 4,500 Indian students have rushed home through land border crossings or by air.

A statement from the Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday said that the Indian High Commission in Dhaka was making arrangements for the safe travel of Indian nationals to border crossings.

"We are also in regular contact with remaining students in various universities in Bangladesh and with Indian nationals for their welfare and assistance, and coordinating with relevant Indian authorities to ensure a smooth passage for our citizens at land ports and airports," it said.

The unrest is also affecting trade as movement of trucks between India and Bangladesh via land ports has come to a grinding halt.

Cargo trucks along the Petrapole Port in West Bengal, the largest land port in India and South Asia, are stalled due to the riots, said Ujjal Saha, secretary of the West Bengal Exporters' Coordination Committee.

"Over 700 cargo trucks are stuck at parking lots along Petrapole and Benapole Port in Bangladesh many of them loaded with perishables," he said. "The delay is causing losses worth millions daily. Already, due to the ongoing heavy monsoons, we had suffered loss of income. This catastrophe is only making things worse."

India is Bangladesh's largest partner in Asia, and bilateral trade between the two neighbors was $15.9 billion in 2022-23. The fracas has also acquired a political hue with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announcing that she is ready to welcome all Bangladeshi refugees who flee the country.

"Whatever is happening in Bangladesh is their internal matter and we as a state cannot comment on this," she said on Monday. "But according to U.N. guidelines, we will welcome all refugees who will be dislodged from their home and hearth in Bangladesh and seek refuge in our state."

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has slammed Banerjee's statement, saying it is "totally misplaced" as "immigration and citizenship" subjects are under central jurisdiction.

The BJP's Amit Malviya in West Bengal said Banerjee's statement was an "evil plan" of the opposition INDIA bloc to settle illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in neighboring Jharkhand and other Indian states to win polls. Other countries also responded to the situation in Bangladesh.

A chartered evacuation flight carrying 123 Malaysians, including 80 students, arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, Malaysian Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

On Sunday, Japan's foreign ministry issued a level 2 hazard warning, the third most severe on a scale of four, to advise people to avoid non-essential travel to the entire country. The US State Department said on Saturday it has raised Bangladesh's travel advisory to level four, which urges people to not travel there.