• Gujarat: Foreign students attacked for offering namaz at university, 5 injured

    National
    Gujarat: Foreign students attacked for offering namaz at university, 5 injured
    According to the students, a mob with knives and sticks burst into the hostel soon after, attacking the residents and causing damage to their rooms.

    Digital Desk: Five foreign students were injured on Saturday night after a mob broke into a hostel at Gujarat University and attacked them for reportedly performing namaz, police said. 
     
    Due to the lack of a mosque on the Ahmedabad campus, the students gathered inside the hostel to participate in Taraweeh, a nighttime Ramadan namaz.

    According to the students, a mob with knives and sticks burst into the hostel soon after, attacking the residents and causing damage to their rooms. The students said that the security guy at the hostel tried to disperse the group but failed.

    One of the Afghani students told how the crowd asked if they were allowed to do namaz in the hostel and chanted slogans. He said, "They attacked us inside the rooms too. They broke laptops, phones, and damaged bikes."

    The student claims that two of the five injured students are from Africa and that the other three are from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Sri Lanka. "When the cops arrived, the mob had already left. The hospitalized injured students have notified the embassies of their whereabouts." 

    JS Malik, the commissioner of Ahmedabad City Police, announced the start of an investigation. He stated, "We have about 300 international students enrolled. They hail from Africa, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan.

    Yesterday, a few of them were performing namaz on the terrace. Some individuals arrived and suggested that they say namaz at a mosque and questioned why they were doing this. This resulted in an argument and a brawl. Then the strangers broke inside the hostel rooms and started throwing stones."