The mob attack on foreign students at Gujarat University, Ahmedabad is appalling and should serve as a wake-up call. The state police have been quick to act and arrest some of the perpetrators. The external affairs ministry has stepped in to control potential damage to India’s international image. Though the university authorities have said this is the first time such an incident has taken place on the campus, the local administration needs to investigate the attackers and send out a tough message that there will be zero tolerance for mob violence.
The mob entered the campus, which houses 300 foreign students, and targeted them in a block that housed students from countries including Sri Lanka, South Africa, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. They were upset that Ramzan prayers were being offered in the hostel premises instead of a mosque and attacked the students and ransacked their rooms. Two of the victims were hospitalised. The peculiar response of the vice-chancellor of the university is that the foreign students will be sensitised to respect the local culture. Sure, but a more urgent step is to sensitise the locals to the axiom Indians take pride in — atithi devo bhava (guest is God). It is the university’s responsibility to make the students secure and have zero tolerance for intruders. If students violate any campus rule, it is for the university authorities to reprimand them. In this case, it should have made arrangements for Muslim students to offer namaz and observe roza. Indian secularism, after all, does not exclude any faith: It abides by the principle of sarva dharma sama bhava (equal respect for all faiths) and is comfortable with public displays of faith.
Coming in the wake of the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which is perceived in many quarters as unfriendly to Muslims, violence of the sort witnessed in Gujarat University can do immense harm to India’s reputation. Indian universities have been welcoming hosts to students from its extended neighbourhood and Africa for decades. It has been a part of Delhi’s soft power outreach and an affirmation of its solidarity with the Global South. At a time when India seeks to be a leader and friend of the world, a vishwa guru and vishwa mitra, hooliganism under the excuse of serving faith can be disastrous. The Ahmedabad incident should not be seen in isolation: Other campuses too have witnessed similar violence — the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda has been a target of Hindutva vigilantism for years — and everything is happening against the backdrop of a political climate that seems to be tolerant of hate speech.
