NEW DELHI: Indian police said on Monday that they had arrested five people over an assault on international students who were offering prayers during Ramadan at a university hostel in Gujarat.
Officials say that a heated argument over the location of the prayers had led to the physical assault in Gujarat University in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad on Saturday.
“Five accused have been arrested in this case. They were also students and they have been arrested, and further investigation is going on,” Tarun Duggal, deputy commissioner of police in Ahmedabad, told Arab News on Monday.
“All four injured have been discharged from the hospital, they were from different countries.”
Videos posted on X showed ransacked student dorms and a mob destroying motor vehicles with long tools.
The incident took place during the holy fasting month of Ramadan, a sacred time that marks a period of religious reflection, family get-togethers and giving for Muslims across the world.
At least 20 people were involved in the violent attack, according to reports from local media.
In a statement issued on Sunday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that it was aware of the incident.
“An incidence of violence took place at Gujarat University in Ahmedabad yesterday. State government is taking strict action against the perpetrators … MEA is in touch with Gujarat government,” the statement read.
Neerja Gupta, vice chancellor at Gujarat University, said that the injured students were from Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.
“There were four, three got minor injuries and one got (admitted to) the hospital,” she told Arab News.
University officials had moved the 75 foreign students who were staying at the hostel where the incident took place, Gupta said.
She said that university officials had also gathered preliminary information from viral videos of the incident, one showing a student slapping another person before the situation escalated, adding that they were looking into it further.
“We have set up a committee and they can only talk to people and get to know what exactly triggered the arrival of locals or slapping, there should be some reason,” Gupta said.
The incident at Gujarat University was not the first time tensions have played out over Muslims offering prayers in India. In 2021, Muslims praying in public places in the Gurgaon area of New Delhi faced regular interruptions and protests from members of Hindu hardline groups.
Gujarat was also the location of anti-Muslim riots in 2002, which are widely viewed as some of the worst instances of religious unrest in the predominantly Hindu country.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state’s chief minister during the violence that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims.
