Foreign students offering namaz in the 'open' triggers row in Gurgaon university

A group of around 20 students of the GD Goenka University on the Sohna-Gurgaon road in the NCR filed a complaint and staged a protest against foreign students offering namaz in the open in the university football ground earlier this week.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the group of students who took objection to namaz being offered in the open not only filed a complaint but held demonstrations wherein they raised ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans, videos of which have surfaced on social media.

Commenting on the incident, the registrar of the university, Dr Dhirendra Singh Parihar, told the publication that the "8-10" foreign students who offered namaz were “mostly from African countries (Nigeria, Ethiopia, etc).” According to Dr Parihar, the students were playing football and at the time of prayer, offered namaz on the field itself.

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“A group of at most 20 students objected to prayers being offered in the open. There was some sloganeering in the corridor. The protesting group contended that namaz should be offered by students either at their hostel rooms or at their place of worship. The group later filed a complaint. The entire incident lasted 15-20 minutes and the matter was resolved amicably after a discussion,” the registrar told IE, commenting on the fallout of the incident.

Dr Parihar further said that after the demonstrations, the foreign students were “sensitised and told that they can offer prayers in their hostel rooms or at a mosque, not in the open.”

The registrar also denied rumours that a separate room had been allocated for offering namaz, clarifying that the university does not discriminate between communities and calling said rumours “baseless”.

It appears that the issue has not escalated beyond the university’s premises, and Naveen Sindhu, ACP Sohna, told IE: “There had been some misunderstanding among students. The matter has been resolved.”