{"id":17104,"date":"2024-03-18T12:47:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T12:47:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/18\/india-investigates-alleged-hindu-nationalist-attack-on-foreign-students-offering-ramadan-prayers\/"},"modified":"2024-03-18T12:47:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T12:47:59","slug":"india-investigates-alleged-hindu-nationalist-attack-on-foreign-students-offering-ramadan-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/18\/india-investigates-alleged-hindu-nationalist-attack-on-foreign-students-offering-ramadan-prayers\/","title":{"rendered":"India investigates\u00a0alleged Hindu nationalist attack on foreign students offering Ramadan prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Authorities in western India have launched an investigation after far-right Hindus allegedly attacked foreign university students offering prayers\u00a0during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as religious tensions simmer ahead of a crucial general election. <\/p>\n

Two people were detained following clashes\u00a0at the Gujarat University that broke out Saturday after students from countries including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan began praying on the campus grounds, Ahmedabad police said Sunday. <\/p>\n

\u201cAround 20-25 people came and asked them why they were offering namaz (prayers) here and should instead read it in the Masjid (mosque),\u201d\u00a0Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik\u00a0told reporters. <\/p>\n

\u201cAn argument broke out between them, stones were pelted, and their rooms were vandalized by the people from outside.\u201d <\/p>\n

At least two foreign students were injured, according to India\u2019s Ministry of External Affairs. <\/p>\n

\u201cState government is taking strict action against the perpetrators,\u201d spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on social platform X. <\/p>\n

The incident is the latest in a string of communal clashes to make headlines in the democracy of 1.4 billion, which has become increasingly polarized along religious lines under Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s Hindu nationalist government. <\/p>\n

Viral video, purportedly of the incident, shows men throwing stones at the students\u2019 hostel and damaging vehicles.\u00a0In another clip, men\u00a0can be heard chanting \u201cJai Shree Ram (Hail Lord Ram),\u201d a Hindu slogan that has in recent years become a clarion call against Muslims.\u00a0Another video appears to show a student slapping a man wearing a saffron scarf, a color associated with Hinduism. <\/p>\n

Speaking to regional channel News Capital Gujarat, an Afghan student said about 15 people were praying for\u00a0Ramadan. <\/p>\n

\u201cThree people came chanting \u2018Jai Shree Ram,\u2019 he said. \u201cAfter a while, they came back with at least 200-250 people, pelted stones\u2026 They broke our bikes, laptops, phones\u2026 We are not safe. We request the university to shift us to a safe place.\u201d <\/p>\n

Another student told Gujarat First News that the university had given them permission to pray on campus. <\/p>\n

Gujarat University vice chancellor Neerja A. Gupta confirmed clashes broke out between two groups after which some foreign students were injured. <\/p>\n

\u201cAn investigation is underway,\u201d she told reporters. \u201cSome videos have gone viral and the police is trying to investigate the trigger points.\u201d <\/p>\n

Analysts have repeatedly raised alarm against rising intolerance in the world\u2019s largest democracy and\u00a0fear that inter-religious tensions will increase as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)\u00a0pushes its populist yet divisive policies in the lead up to a nationwide election next month. <\/p>\n

In January, communal tensions rose in western Maharashtra state, with three reported altercations between Hindus and Muslims, according to local police. <\/p>\n

In a separate incident in central Madhya Pradesh state, a group of right-wing Hindus was seen placing saffron-colored flags on top of a Christian church. <\/p>\n

Both incidents took place one week after Modi inaugurated the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir, a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a 16th\u00a0century mosque that was destroyed by hardline Hindus some 30 years ago, setting off a wave of deadly sectarian violence not seen in India since its bloody 1947 partition. <\/p>\n

Prominent Muslim lawmaker\u00a0Asaduddin Owaisi\u00a0criticized Saturday\u2019s violence in Gujarat, calling out Modi and top officials within his government. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a shame. When your devotion & religious slogans only come out when Muslims peacefully practice their religion,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cWhen you become unexplainably angry at the mere sight of Muslims. What is this, if not mass radicalisation?\u201d <\/p>\n\n

This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Authorities in western India have launched an investigation after far-right Hindus allegedly attacked foreign university students offering prayers\u00a0during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as religious tensions simmer ahead of a crucial general election. Two people were detained following clashes\u00a0at the Gujarat University that broke out Saturday after students from countries including Afghanistan, Sri Lanka <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}