Foreign students attacked over namaz inside Gujarat varsity hostel, 5 Injured

Gamdhinagar: Foreign Muslim students residing in Gujarat University’s (GU) hostel alleged that they faced physical attacks for offering Taraweeh prayers at their hostel on Saturday night.

The students said there was no mosque on campus, so they gathered inside Hostel Block-A to offer Taraweeh, a nighttime namaz during Ramadan. They said they had taken permission from hostel administration.

Soon after, a mob armed with sticks and knives stormed the hostel, attacked them, and vandalised their rooms. The hostel facility also suffred damage.

An Afghani student reported that people in the mob raised slogans at them and questioned who had permitted them to perform namaz in the hostel. "They attacked us inside the rooms too. They broke laptops, phones and damaged bikes," he said.

The student said the five injured students include one each from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Turkmenistan and two from African countries. "Police arrived half an hour after the incident. By then, the mob had fled. The injured students are in hospital and have informed the embassies."

In the videos that have surfaced online, the hostel security guard is seen attempting to disperse the saffron-shawl-wearing mob, but fails to stop the attackers.

Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of parliament from Hyderabad and the leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, has condemned the incident and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah intervene.

"What a shame. When your devotion and religious slogans only come out when Muslims peacefully practice their religion. When you become unexplainably 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.