The Gujarat University has decided to hand out a compensation of ₹3 lakh to around six foreign students whose laptops, phones and bikes were damaged after they were attacked at the university hostel in Ahmedabad last month.
On the night of March 16, around two dozen individuals allegedly entered the Gujarat University hostel in Ahmedabad and voiced objections to students from foreign countries offering prayers near their hostel block.
Six foreign students, mostly from Afghanistan, lodged complaints with the university, stating that their belongings, including a motorbike, several laptops, mobile phones, air conditioners, and sound systems were destroyed by the attackers.
“The university has approved allocation of approximately ₹3 lakh for compensating the losses incurred by these students,” according to an education department official close to the matter.
He said that a delegation from Afghanistan that had visited the campus following the incident also raised concerns about the losses incurred by the students, including damage to their belongings.
Recently, the university launched a crack down on students illegally residing in the hostel, evicting seven Afghan students from the NRI hostel and informing the Afghanistan Consulate about the decision. Stricter monitoring measures have also been implemented within the hostels following the attack.
{{/usCountry}}Recently, the university launched a crack down on students illegally residing in the hostel, evicting seven Afghan students from the NRI hostel and informing the Afghanistan Consulate about the decision. Stricter monitoring measures have also been implemented within the hostels following the attack.
{{/usCountry}}An FIR was registered by the police against a group of 20-25 persons in connection with the vandalism and violence incident. Initially, five individuals were arrested for their alleged involvement in the attack. Subsequently, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch apprehended two additional suspects, identified as Kshitij Pandey and Jitendra Patel. The investigation into the matter is ongoing.
Five students were reportedly injured in the violence and two of them – one from Sri Lanka and the other from Tajikistan – were hospitalised.
Several steps were taken by the university to ensure the safety and security of foreign students, including shifting the students from Block A to a newly built hostel building, hiring a private agency with former army personnel to enhance security and replacing the university’s study-abroad programme coordinator.
On April 3, external affairs minister S Jaishankar who was on a two-day visit to Gujarat called the GU violence incident unfortunate and said that the police authorities moved very quickly in this matter and immediate action was taken.
“I view this incident as an exception, something regrettable, but I believe that the majority of foreign students in India have a good experience. Treat this as something that was regrettable but is not a representative action,” Jaishankar said.