The Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday said that strict action will be taken against those who attacked foreign students offering Taraweeh prayers at Gujarat University on Saturday night. Gujarat Police says it has arrested two people and is looking for more.
The Gujarat government is taking strict action against those responsible for violence at a university in Ahmedabad in which two foreign students were injured, the External Affairs Ministry said on Sunday.
The foreign ministry’s statement came as the Gujarat police said it had arrested two people involved in the incident and was looking for more. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that one of the two foreign students injured in the violence has also been discharged from the hospital.
According to Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik, the incident took place at around 10.50 pm on Saturday when around 20 to 25 people entered the premises of a hostel of Gujarat University in Ahmedabad and objected to the prayers of foreign students in the university. Argued with them and attacked them.
Police said that among the two injured students, one is from Sri Lanka while the other is from Tajikistan. An FIR has been registered against 20 to 25 unidentified accused under the Indian Penal Code for rioting, unlawful assembly, damage to property, and criminal activities. Apart from this, two persons have also been identified as Hitesh Mewada and Bharat Patel. Who have also been arrested.
According to the police, around 300 foreign students are studying in the university, including Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Sri Lanka and African countries. Around 75 international students are staying in the university’s A Block hostel where the incident took place. The official said that all those involved in the incident will be arrested.
Gujarat University Vice-Chancellor Neerja Gupta said that there was a clash between two groups in the premises of A Block Hostel where 75 foreign students were staying. An FIR has been registered against them. The government and the police have taken the matter seriously and investigations are on.
In fact, more than a dozen students from many countries, including Africa, Uzbekistan, Tanzania and Afghanistan, were performing Taraweeh prayers in Gujarat University’s International Hostel A Block, when at the same time, people associated with Hindu organizations attacked these students while chanting Jaishree Ram slogans and the vehicles in the hostel premises were also damaged.
Four students were injured in the attack and were admitted to SP Hospital. In such a situation, questions are being raised by the Gujarat Police regarding the security of foreign students.
Ghiyasuddin Shaikh added that foreign students called the police, miscreants were attacking the students even in the presence of the police, but instead of arresting them, the police let them go. It is very sad. Yes, we demand that action should be taken against the police officers who attacked foreign students and did not perform their legal duty.
On the same issue, the head of All India Majlis Ittehad Muslimeen, Working Parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi tagged Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Prime Minister Modi and Union Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on X and said in a post,
“It is a matter of great shame that Your devotion and religious slogans come out when Muslims are peacefully practicing their religion.”
When you see Muslims, you get unspeakable rage. What is this if not fundamentalism on a large scale? Owaisi added that “Muslim hostility at home is destroying India’s goodwill”.
