Mob attacks foreign students for offering namaz at Gujarat University hostel, two injured

Students hailing from different foreign countries were assaulted allegedly by a group of persons in the Gujarat University hostel in Ahmedabad for offering namaz in the facility's building, police said on Sunday.

Two students - one from Sri Lanka and another from Tajikistan - were hospitalised after the incident which took place on Saturday night, they said.

An FIR was registered against 20-25 people and nine teams of security personnel were formed to conduct a probe into the incident, Police Commissioner GS Malik said.

The incident was reported at around 10.50 pm on Saturday when nearly two dozen people barged into the (government-run) Gujarat University's hostel and raised an objection to students from Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and other countries offering namaz in the facility where they stayed, Malik said.

Teams to nab culprits

There are around 300 international students enrolled at the Gujarat University, including from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka and countries in Africa, he said.

Nearly 75 of the international students stay in the A-block hostel of the university where the incident occurred, the official said.

“Some 20-25 people entered the hostel premises and objected to the international students offering namaz there, asking them to do so in a mosque. They argued over the issue, assaulting them and hurling stones,” Malik said.

The police responded within minutes after a call was made to the control room at 10.51 pm. A police van reached the spot and action was taken, he said.

Two students -- one from Sri Lanka and another from Tajikistan -- have been hospitalised, he said. An FIR was registered against 20-25 people and they will be arrested soon, Malik said, adding the situation was under control.

Nine teams have been formed, including four from the crime branch and five from local police under DCP, to conduct a probe into the case, he said.

All those involved in the incident will be arrested, the official said, adding the case will be monitored by the joint commissioner of police (crime).

No mosque on campus

Meanwhile, the students told the media that they had gathered to offer namaz at night during Ramadan as there is no mosque on the Ahmedabad-based campus. Soon after, a mob armed with sticks and knives stormed the hostel, attacked them and vandalised their rooms, they alleged. The students said the security guard of the hostel tried to stop the mob, but failed.

A student from Afghanistan said people in the mob raised slogans and asked them who had allowed them to offer namaz in the hostel. “They attacked us inside the rooms too. They broke laptops, phones and damaged bikes,” he said. “The mob had fled by the time police arrived. The injured students are in hospital and have informed the embassies,” said another student.

Visuals shared on social media showed damaged bikes, broken laptops and ravaged rooms. In some of the visuals, people are seen throwing stones at the hostel and hurling abuses at the overseas students. In the visuals, the international students are heard saying that they are “scared” and that “this is unacceptable”.

(With agency inputs)