Five international students sustained injuries following an attack at a Gujarat University hostel last night, where a mob targeted students from African countries, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan, reportedly for offering namaz.
State Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi reportedly communicated with Gujarat's senior police officials, instructing them to apprehend the perpetrators and ensure a thorough and prompt investigation.
The students said there is no mosque on the Ahmedabad-based campus, prompting them to assemble inside the hostel to perform Taraweeh, a night-time prayer observed during Ramadan.
Subsequently, a group armed with sticks and knives reportedly raided the hostel, assaulting the students and causing damage to their rooms.
According to the students, the hostel's security guard attempted to intervene but failed to halt the mob.
A student from Afghanistan recounted that individuals in the mob shouted slogans and questioned them about who had permitted them to pray inside the hostel.
Images circulated on social media depicted damaged bikes, shattered laptops, and vandalised rooms. Some images showed individuals throwing stones at the hostel and verbally attacking the foreign students.
The international students expressed their fear in the visuals and described the situation as "unacceptable."
Hyderabad MP and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi criticised the incident and questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah would intervene.
"What a shame. When your devotion and religious slogans only come out when Muslims peacefully practise their religion.
When you become inexplicably angry at the mere sight of Muslims. What is this, if not mass radicalisation? This is the home state of @AmitShah & @narendramodi, will they intervene to send a strong message? I am not holding my breath. @DrSJaishankar domestic anti-Muslim hatred is destroying India's goodwill," he said in a post on X.
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