India investigates alleged Hindu nationalist attack on foreign students offering Ramadan prayers

CNN —

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

Two people were detained following clashes at 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.

“Around 20-25 people came and asked them why they were offering namaz (prayers) here and should instead read it in the Masjid (mosque),” Ahmedabad police commissioner GS Malik told reporters.

“An argument broke out between them, stones were pelted, and their rooms were vandalized by the people from outside.”

At least two foreign students were injured, according to India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

“State government is taking strict action against the perpetrators,” spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on social platform X.

A woman places a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) symbol at a BJP election office in Chennai on March 16.

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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’s Hindu nationalist government.

One eyewitness told CNN the students were offering prayers when a group of people arrived and repeatedly told them to stop, while chanting Hindu slogans.

“One of the students got up and slapped a member of the group,” the Gujarat University student, who does not want to be named out of fear of