A group of foreign students was attacked by a Hindutva mob at the campus of Gujarat University while offering prayers at the campus in Ahmedabad.
On the evening of March 16th, a group of Muslim students from various countries faced a harrowing assault by a mob influenced by Hindutva ideology, Maktoob reported.
The students, hailing from various Asian and African countries, were targeted while they gathered to observe Taraweeh prayers in their hostel premises.
Taraweeh is an additional offered during Ramadhan worldwide.
Ahmad Waris Sakha, a student specializing in cyber security and acting as the representative for foreign students at the university said, “A mob, some of them wearing saffron scarves, came and started pushing us and asked questions like who allowed us to pray there and that they won’t let us pray in the hostel. By the time we could understand anything, they started beating and attacking us with the weapons they had. With knives, stones, and cricket bats, many of our fellow students got injured,” he stated, highlighting the brutality of the attack.
Disturbingly, despite the presence of security personnel, including the hostel’s guard, the assailants were not deterred.
Sakha described how their attempts to intervene proved futile, leaving the students vulnerable to the mob’s violence.
“The security guard of the hostel also tried to stop the mob but failed to stop the attack,” he lamented.
Adding to the students’ distress was the alleged indifference displayed by university officials in the aftermath of the incident.
Dr. Jyoti, tasked with overseeing the welfare of foreign students, reportedly dismissed their concerns, stating, “this is not our responsibility,” when contacted for assistance.
The consequences of the assault were severe, with five students sustaining significant injuries requiring medical attention at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Hospital.
Among the injured were Haroon Jabbar from Afghanistan, Azad from Turkmenistan, and a Christian student named Mario from Sri Lanka, alongside two students from African nations, whose identities were not disclosed.
“It is very shameful on the part of India, which calls itself a democracy and a secular country but it doesn’t have space to accommodate varying religious beliefs and people who follow it,” he remarked.