There has been a recent controversy about offering namaz in an open area at Gujarat University’s NRI housing where a conflict emerged between Muslim students from abroad and local students. Now, Gujarat University (GU) is taking strong measures regarding the incident. Seven Afghan students have reportedly been asked to leave the university. They were staying in the university dormitory unlawfully. They have completed their education but continued to live in the hostel and have now received orders to vacate the premises. Five students have already left the university.
The Afghanistan embassy has also received information about the notice directing the students to leave the dorm. Over a hundred international students are enrolled in the university’s undergraduate and graduate programs. This included seven Afghan students who extended their stay in the hostel citing frivolous excuses which is prohibited under university regulations. The university administration learned about it and took appropriate measures.
According to representatives of Gujarat University, these students had finished their coursework but were using the hostel under the pretext of obtaining transcripts or certificates. However, a student is not permitted to remain in the hostel after concluding the course, per university regulations. The seven pupils also fell into this category. It was also mentioned that out of the seven students, four have completed their studies and three have only administrative work pending.
The Gujarat University Chancellor, Dr. Nirja Gupta reported that the seven Afghan students belong to the alumni group. They were lodging at the hostel on account of trivial justifications. Now, arrangements have been made for these pupils to leave the hostel and return to their country because they are now former students. Furthermore, according to the Chancellor, two of the seven students are expected to follow the directive while the other five have already departed from the institution.
Dispute over offering namaz in the university
A brawl broke out on 16th March between international and local students over performing namaz in a public place in A Block of the university hostel, sparking a major row. One of the local Hindu students attempted to convince the Muslim international students not to offer namaz in public. However, a foreign student assaulted a local student and as the situation escalated local students retaliated by attacking the international pupils.
The Ministry of External Affairs also took action following this occurrence. The institution was visited by delegations from Afghanistan and Gambia. The foreign students were moved to the new dormitories after the university administration and the delegation discussed all the issues. Now, the students living there illegally have been given a notice to go back to their country.