Attack on Int’l students in Gujarat unpardonable

For citizens of a nation which lives and breathes the principle of ‘Vasudaiva kutumbakam’, the dastardly attack on several students from foreign countries including Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, at a college hostel in Gujarat a couple of days ago came as a rude shock.

What was even more unacceptable was the fact that the attack happened at a time when they were offering namaz during the month of Ramadan.

While five of the miscreants who were part of this heinous episode have been arrested, those who were hurt have been hospitalised.

What is all the more shameful is that these hooligans chose to attack the students in the home state of none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

And in a state which gave birth to the Mahatma who wrote that ‘I call him religious who understands the suffering of others.’

Did they even care to remember that this is the state of the great Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who wove together a nation on the foundations of religious harmony, bringing together people of all faiths, caste and creed?

And who said that ‘There is something unique in this soil, which despite many obstacles has always remained the abode of great souls.’

Students and travellers have been visiting India for centuries; the great institutions of Nalanda and Takshashila drew those thirsting for wisdom from every corner of the globe and their visits left them amazed because of the depth and intensity of Indian knowledge and the profundity of its thoughts.

Even today, there are students from many countries who come to well-known varsities in the country under exchange programmes and on scholarships to gain knowledge so that they can utilise it for the well-being of their fellow beings in their home countries.

They come from countries as far apart as South America and Africa and are quick to praise the warmth and kindness of the native population despite their differences of race and colour.

We Indians are known for our hospitable nature; we have welcomed people irrespective of their race or colour to our shores with an open heart bestowing on them our love and affection.

Many of these visitors have merged with the Indian population over the course of decades and centuries enriching the native population and adding to the richness of our culture and traditions.

Today, there are lakhs of Indian students of all religions studying in foreign countries including the US, UK, Canada and Russia among others.

They have become an integral part of the countries they live in, earning admiration for their hard working nature and their love for peace and tolerance.

They are many who have settled abroad contributing their intellect to the progress of the nations they live in. In such circumstances, what impression would an attack of the kind which happened in a Gujarat college hostel convey to the world?

Have we become so intolerant that we cannot even allow these students to perform namaz in their varsity?

Considering the seriousness of the situation, the Gujarat government and the police of that state should do everything possible to restore the confidence of the students who bore the brunt of the attack and make it known to them that this is an aberration which would not happen again.

The attack is a blemish not only on the image of our great nation but also a shame for all those who have an intrinsic faith in its tolerance for all faiths.

Secularism no doubt should be our abiding passion and what better words to sum it up than those sagely words of Robert Green Ingersoll who wrote, ‘Secularism is a religion, a religion that is understood.

It has no mysteries, no mumblings, no priests, no ceremonies, no falsehoods, no miracles, and no persecutions.’