Bajrang Dal workers assaulted a group of civil society members in Ahmedabad on Thursday after they gathered at a public garden to read a book by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, amid an ongoing row over the inclusion of her work in a local school's curriculum.
The controversy began nearly two weeks ago after a school in Ahmedabad reportedly assigned Yousafzai's book to its students.
Bajrang Dal members staged a protest against the school management over the move, citing Yousafzai's past remarks on Kashmir, which they termed anti-India.
Taking note of the opposition, the school authorities withdrew the book from its reading list and suspended its study.
Following the school's decision, a social media call was put out for members of civil society to gather at the AUDA Garden in Vastrapur and read the book publicly. Political figures, including Congress's Parthivsinh Kathwadiya and other local leaders, joined the gathering to demand that the book be reinstated in the school curriculum.
On learning of the assembly, Bajrang Dal activists arrived at the spot to protest what they described as support for an anti-India narrative, confronting the group and demanding an immediate halt to any promotion of Yousafzai's work, NDTV reported.
The situation escalated when the activists allegedly assaulted several people at the gathering. Police subsequently reached the location and detained multiple Bajrang Dal workers.
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Members of the civil society group who were assaulted said everyone in India has the right to read books freely, noting that alongside Yousafzai's book, works by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were also being read at the gathering.
Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for girls' education, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012. Her advocacy work and past comments on regional issues, including Kashmir, have periodically drawn criticism from right-wing groups in India.
Police have not yet issued an official statement on the number of people injured or the sections invoked against those detained.
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