Ahmedabad: 3 held after attack on Malala, Anne Frank book-reading session in Vastrapur

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.Following the protests, the school dropped I Am Malala and The Diary of a Young Girl from its mandatory reading list and later made the two books optional.Two people suffered minor injuries in the incident. “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. They questioned the group about reading books by Malala Yousafzai and Anne Frank, following which an altercation took place. Two people suffered minor injuries and three persons have been arrested,” Vastrapur police station inspector Geeta Chaudhari said.The participants had gathered to read Yousafzai’s I Am Malala and Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl, along with books by other writers. The session was organised amid a controversy over the inclusion of the two books in the reading programme of a reputed private school in Ahmedabad.Also Read: After attack on tourists over shorts, forest dept to check entry at Pune fortBased on a complaint by Jaykumar Natvarlal (30), an FIR was registered for rioting and unlawful assembly, among other charges, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).According to the FIR filed at the Vastrapur police station, the group had gathered at the garden around 4 pm on Thursday. Around 6.30 pm, a group of men arrived and questioned the participants about reading Yousafzai’s book. The confrontation escalated and members of the reading group were assaulted.The FIR names Hiren Rabari and Jimeet Rabari, whose full names and addresses were not known to the complainant, along with around 18 other unidentified people, as accused.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.Police said six people had been identified in connection with the incident and that more arrests would follow.The Bajrang Dal’s Gujarat unit posted on X on Thursday that it had opposed Yousafzai’s book after it was included in the school’s reading material. “Bajrang Dal protested against Malala’s book, which opposes India’s stance on the Kashmir issue, following which the school stopped its reading. Now, the reading-recitation of the same book has been resumed again,” it said.Also read: Ghaziabad: Couples harassed at Indirapuram park ahead of Valentine’s Day“When Bajrang Dal got wind of this Pakistan-supporting mentality, they first tried explaining... but when that didn’t work, they explained it in true Bajrang Dal style,” the post added.The controversy over the books began recently after protests at the private school. Following the protests, the school dropped I Am Malala and The Diary of a Young Girl from its mandatory reading list and later made the two books optional.The reading session was organised by the Student and Youth Collective and was attended by students, lawyers, media professionals and others. The collective had said the session was meant to protest the removal of the books from the school’s mandatory reading list.