Foreign students attacked in India for performing Ramadan prayer at dormitory

Multiple students were injured following mob violence against a gathering of Muslim individuals engaged in prayer on the university grounds in Gujarat state

At least four international students sustained injuries when a Hindu extremist mob reportedly barged into a university dormitory in western India’s Gujarat state and assaulted the group of students for praying during the sacred month of Ramadan, as per reports from local media.

India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the weekend promised to enforce severe measures against the culprits, while the state police in the hometown of Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed that a probe was in progress regarding the assault at Gujarat University.

According to the students who spoke to local media, a small assembly gathered on Saturday evening within the boys’ hostel premises for the Ramadan tarawih prayer since there is no mosque on the university campus situated in Ahmedabad.

Shortly after, a group armed with sticks and knives invaded the hostel, assaulting them and causing damage to their rooms.

“A cluster of 15 students were engaged in prayers when three individuals arrived and began chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ (Hail lord Ram). They opposed our prayers in this location,” a student was quoted as saying by local media.

“Subsequently, approximately 250 individuals arrived and chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’. They hurled stones and wrecked hostel property,” he added.

A student from Afghanistan informed the local NDTV network: “They also assaulted us within the rooms. They shattered laptops, phones and wrecked bikes,” mentioning that the AC and sound system were also ruined.

Footage circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, depicted plundered student dormitories and a crowd damaging the students’ motorcycles with elongated tools.

“We cannot endure this,” remarked an African student in his video recorded from the hostel. Amid the background, loud yelling and the sounds of items being demolished, shattered and destroyed by the mob can be heard.

“We arrived in India to pursue studies, and now we are under attack merely because it’s the time for Ramadan and Muslims were praying. Presently, they are destroying the bikes, everything is being demolished downstairs,” he lamented.

Source: Newsroom