Days after a mob assaulted international students at Gujarat University – allegedly for offering namaz on the varsity campus – the university has issued guidelines for international students against the use of public spaces for religious purposes, The Times of India reported on Tuesday.
At least five international students, from Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka, were injured after a mob attacked them on Saturday night. The Gujarat Police has so far arrested five persons in the case.
On Monday, Gujarat University decided to transfer its international students to a separate hostel designated for Non-Resident Indian students. It also established a foreign student advisory committee and deployed former Army personnel on the campus to bolster security, reported PTI.
Later in the day, the varsity issued guidelines for the international students’ hostel, stating that public spaces should be avoided for “private, religious or any outside activity”. It also said that those found to be involved in the “use of abusive and threatening language, physical fights, use of force to get an unfair act accomplished etc” would be expelled, according to The Times of India.
The university’s Vice Chancellor Neerja Gupta told The Indian Express that the offering of namaz could not have been the only provocation for Saturday’s violence.
When asked what could have caused the clashes, Gupta said: “It’s not a question of a religious practice…it might be a cultural practice. Foreign students should have been mentored in a better manner in terms of cultural assimilation.”
The vice chancellor said that international students consume non-vegetarian food but Gujarat is primarily “a vegetarian society”.
“The dumping of leftovers can become an issue,” she said. “If leftovers are dumped in the open, street dogs can create a menace. The public space is shared by everyone. As these are foreign students, they come to notice quickly. So that is why I said that this cannot be about just one incident. We are not so insensitive or intolerant to someone offering namaz.”
Gupta said that the international students need to be mentored to help them understand “the local society, customs and prevalent emotions so that they can remain safe”.
On Sunday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs had said that the Gujarat Police is “taking strict action” against the accused persons. Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the Centre is in touch with the state government regarding the matter.
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