Three people associated with right-wing groups were arrested after a book-reading session featuring works by Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank was allegedly attacked at AUDA Garden in Ahmedabad’s Vastrapur area, police said.
Two people suffered minor injuries in the incident. They questioned the group about reading books by Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank, following which an altercation took place. The confrontation escalated and members of the reading group were assaulted. The complaint alleges that Sneh Bhavsar, Savan Zalariya and Shashikumar were assaulted during the incident. It alleges that a woman was pulled by her hair and another participant was slapped. The reading session was organised by the Student and Youth Collective and was attended by students, lawyers, media professionals and others.
“On Thursday evening, a group had gathered at AUDA Garden for a book-reading session when they were confronted by around 20 people carrying sticks, who said they were associated with the VHP and Bajrang Dal. The group had gathered at the garden around 4 pm on Thursday, according to the FIR filed at the Vastrapur police station. Around 6.30 pm, a group of men arrived and questioned the participants about reading Yousafzai’s book.
Two people suffered minor injuries and three persons have been arrested,” Vastrapur police station inspector Geeta Chaudhari said. Police said six people had been identified in connection with the incident and that more arrests would follow. The collective had said the session was meant to protest the removal of the books from the school’s mandatory reading list.
