“They beat us with iron and wooden rods. They hit my head, back and elbow even though we were trying to have a dialogue with them,” said Savan Zalariya, a theatre artiste and professor of political theatre at Ahmedabad University, about a book-reading session disrupted on August 27.

The “silent reading session” organised by the Students and Youth Collective, Ahmedabad (SYCA), at AUDA Garden in Vastrapur had turned into a confrontation after a group of people allegedly associated with the Bajrang Dal and Vishva Hindu Parishad arrived at the venue, raised slogans, made communal remarks and assaulted participants.

The group tore copies of I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai and The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank that participants had been reading. It turned violent, with several participants allegedly beaten with sticks and rods, according to SYCA members.

The reading session had been organised in solidarity with a school in Ahmedabad that had faced objections over the inclusion of the two books in its reading programme. Organisers said around 40-50 people attended the event, while around 30-40 activists arrived wearing saffron scarves and carrying bats and sticks.

Police subsequently registered an FIR in which the complainant named Hiren Rabari and Jimit Rabari. SYCA members alleged that both were Bajrang Dal members and among those leading the group. “Hiren Rabari was speaking the most amongst them all. He only took his name in front of us,” said Swati Goswami, an independent consultant and educator who is part of SYCA.

Hiren Rabari, whose Instagram bio notes “Bajrang Dal,” posted a video of the incident with the caption, “When the Bajrang Dal activists came to know about the event, they reached the spot. After a face-to-face discussion, the Congress and Cockroach Janata Party activists could not answer the questions raised by the Bajrang Dal activists. They then allegedly tried to escape by using the national anthem as a shield and even moved during its rendition. They used the national anthem to evade the questions and, in doing so, grossly insulted it. At the end of the national anthem, when the Bajrang Dal activists raised slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”, none of those who held Islamic or leftist ideologies joined in chanting the slogans.”

The FIR invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to criminal intimidation, voluntarily causing hurt, unlawful assembly and rioting while armed with a deadly weapon or an object capable of causing death.

G M Chaudhri, Station House Officer at Vastrapur police station, told Newslaundry, “We have registered the FIR and have arrested three people who have now got bail. The police are looking for the two people (Hiren and Jimit) named in the complaint. Investigation is underway.”

Why was the reading session organised?

On August 11, several parents gathered outside the Anand Niketan school in Shilaj after a class 8 student reportedly found a hard object in his mouth while eating lunch served at the school canteen the previous day. According to The Indian Express, the student was eating bhindi, dal, chapati and rice when he allegedly swallowed part of the object and handed the remaining piece to his teacher.

The Ahmedabad District Education Officer (DEO) subsequently issued a show-cause notice to the school seeking details about the incident, including the agency supplying the food, the school’s food-safety and quality checks, the action taken after the incident and measures to prevent a recurrence.

The DEO also ordered an inspection and sought a report based on statements from students and parents, as well as CCTV footage, photographs, food samples and other available evidence.

The school reportedly said it had taken “immediate corrective measures”, including changes in supervisory responsibility and a review and strengthening of its hygiene, food-safety and quality-control protocols. The controversy subsequently expanded, with some parents alleging that the school was discriminating against a particular religion because students were being asked to read books by Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai and Holocaust victim Anne Frank.

The inclusion of Malala’s book, in particular, drew objections from people allegedly associated with the Bajrang Dal and VHP, who questioned why a book by a Pakistani activist was available at the school. They reportedly entered the school premises by climbing over the gate, raised “Jai Shri Ram” slogans and threatened the school management.

The school rejected the allegations, saying the books were part of its Book Club and were intended to promote age-appropriate reading, empathy and global awareness. It also said daily shlokas continued to be recited during breakfast and lunch, while physical exercise and yoga had been strengthened as part of the morning programme.

On August 14, the school’s Instagram account shared screenshots of emails from parents supporting the school. While some parents raised concerns and offered suggestions regarding the canteen, several others expressed support for the school’s decision to include the two books, describing them as important for students’ development.

Sources said that two teachers belonging to a religious minority community were allegedly targeted and being pressured to resign. Newslaundry has reached out to the school authorities for their response and will update this report if a response is received.

‘Reading is not a crime’

On August 22, SYCA issued a statement of solidarity with the school amid the controversy over the two books.

“Reading is not a crime,” the collective said, describing the incident as “an extremely worrying symptom for education in Gujarat and India at large”. It said schools should be spaces for “critical reading, discussion, and healthy debate” without outside interference.

Three days later, on August 25, the collective announced a “silent reading session” from 4 pm to 6 pm on August 27 at AUDA Garden, near the Ahmedabad District Education Officer’s office.

Another informal group named Gujarat Reads was created on WhatsApp for coordination and is now deleted. “I’m not a part of SYCA. Gujarat Reads was formed right before this incident to show solidarity with the school,” said Sneh Bhavsar, an Ahmedabad-based entrepreneur part of the group.

Zalariya said the event was not centred exclusively around Malala or Anne Frank. “People from different walks of life attended this event. In the session, there were not only books of Malala or Anne Frank, but Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Bhagat Singh and B R Ambedkar. We only had books and water bottles,” he said.

The collective said it was formed by students and young people in Ahmedabad who felt that universities in Gujarat provided limited space for open discussions, particularly on political and social issues. According to Zalariya, the decentralised collective began in April during Dalit History Month and has no formal leader. It was not formed specifically to organise protests and initially functioned as a cultural forum organising film screenings and discussions.

‘They were not there for a talk’

According to Bhavsar, the reading session began peacefully around 4 pm on August 27. “People came to the park and left, showing solidarity, while some were reading peacefully. Around 30 to 40 people would have joined the session. There were no banners or chanting. It was very peaceful,” he said.

Towards the end of the session, Bhavsar said, four or five people arrived and appeared to assess the gathering before leaving and returning with more people. “They were quite prepared, their body language, their plan, the sticks and rods that they left outside the park at the gate,” he said. Goswami mentioned that they wore saffron-coloured scarfs around their necks and chanted “Jai Shri Ram.” 

According to Bhavsar, participants initially tried to engage with the group. “We tried to engage with them. We even made them sit down and asked them to discuss and express their opposition to the entire point. But clearly, they were not there for a talk. They were trying to look for one reason or another to provoke us,” he said.

“For almost 15 minutes, they could not find anything because we were talking, we were calm and we were trying to understand them and put our points across peacefully. But then they got up and started pushing people around. Some people were already trying to intimidate us from behind.”

He said participants began singing the national anthem when the group allegedly tried to charge at them. “When they tried to charge us, we started singing the national anthem to protect us. This halted everything for a minute. But then they started saying that someone’s shoulder was shaking while he was singing and that we were insulting the national song. Then they started charging at us and beating us,” Bhavsar alleged.

Participants also alleged that some members of the group threatened women who were recording the incident and attempted to snatch their phones and watches. “They said that those women who were recording would ‘disappear’ by tomorrow and their bodies would not be found,” Goswami alleged.

Zalariya said, “They started questioning which books were being read and we answered back asking why we were being questioned,” he said. According to him, the group repeatedly focused on Malala’s book and her views on Kashmir. He alleged that Hiren Rabari repeatedly questioned the inclusion of Malala’s book and said it was a matter concerning his nation and religion.

Goswami also alleged that members of the group made communal remarks and discussed pulling down the trousers of some participants to check their religion. 

It escalated into an assault and Bhavsar said he suffered blows to his head and back. 

Goswami also alleged that members of the group attempted to lock the park’s gate. She said she confronted them and alerted the police. Goswami said two police personnel, one in uniform and another in civilian clothes, soon came to the spot, apart from a police vehicle.

Violence didn’t stop ‘even after cops came’

SYCA members alleged that the violence did not stop even after police arrived. Around six were injured, they said.

According to Zalariya, members of the group attacked participants in front of the police and one policeman was allegedly grabbed by his uniform. “They weren’t scared of the police,” he said. Both Goswami and Zalariya said a policeman told them: “Sit in the van quickly, we will take you from here. Otherwise they will kill you.” 

As the incident continued past 6 pm and spilled onto the road, traffic came to a halt, she said. “No one came to help us,” she said.

Zalariya said seven to eight people were packed into the police vehicle and taken to Vastrapur police station, where they began the process of registering an FIR. Members of the collective went to the nearby Civil Hospital in cabs for medico-legal examinations, accompanied by the police. They were given medication and underwent X-rays, according to Goswami. 

Goswami said the participants initially attempted to give their statements verbally, but alleged that some details, including the intimidation and communal remarks, were left out. They subsequently submitted a written statement, following which the FIR was registered. “We left the station after 2 am,” she said.

Newslaundry sent questions to SHO G M Chaudhri. This report will be updated if a response is received.

Reached for comment, Bajrang Dal’s Gujarat vice president Jvalit Mehta said the scuffle only began on August 27 “once they disrespected the national anthem”.

On the school incident, he said, “We received requests from parents of Anand Niketan school students that Malala’s book was being taught forcefully. Our workers then visited the school. Yes, they climbed the school boundaries and entered the premises but, there was no violence from our side. We wanted to tell the school to stop these practices. Additionally, we also learnt about a piece of glass being found in the canteen food. There was also a complaint about the canteen staff cooking eggs for themselves in a school where mostly students are strictly vegetarian.”

“We learnt that some people had organised a reading session after the school incident and they had invited many people to join. We know that they also attended the Jantar Mantar protests and are Cockroach Janata Party members. Apart from Malala’s book, there were books against the Godhra Riots and questioning the idea of Love Jihad. Such books can incite people. There was debate and discussion between both sides and once they disrespected the National Anthem, there was scuffle. However, we did not use any sticks.” 

“Our only aim was that Malala’s book should not be read as her views on Kashmir are harmful for our country.” 

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