Ahmedabad book circle attacked by Bajrang Dal; 30 children missing in trafficking probe
An Ahmedabad book-reading circle was violently broken up Thursday evening when Bajrang Dal activists wielding wooden sticks stormed an AUDA public park in Vastrapur and beat participants who had gathered to read Malala Yousafzai's Nobel Peace Prize memoir and Anne Frank's diary, with the group objecting that the books contain anti-India views. The Vastrapur police filed an FIR in the early hours of Friday, naming two individuals — Hiren Rabari and Jimit Rabari — along with 18 unidentified others, all described as wearing saffron scarves during the assault. Separately, the Ahmedabad Crime Branch's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit is investigating 30 missing children aged between three and fifteen, as police fear some may have fallen prey to trafficking networks.
Bajrang Dal beats Vastrapur book-reading group over Malala memoir
On Thursday evening, a mob of Bajrang Dal activists descended on an Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority park in the Vastrapur neighbourhood and attacked members of a newly formed book-reading collective who had assembled to read works by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai and diarist Anne Frank. The Bajrang Dal, affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, specifically objected to Malala's memoir, asserting it carries anti-India views. The reading event had been organised through social media platforms by students and young community members. Around 6 pm, as participants were settling in for the session, a crowd in saffron scarves arrived carrying wooden sticks and immediately confronted those present about their choice of reading material before turning violent. Jay Thakkar, the businessman who organised the collective and later filed the police complaint, said the attackers beat him, Sneh Bhavsar, and Savan Jalaria, pulled the hair of Swati Goswami, and physically roughed up Maitreyee Chhaya. The mob explicitly warned those present that they would face further consequences if they persisted in reading such books. The Vastrapur police registered an FIR in the early hours of Friday based on Thakkar's complaint. The FIR names two individuals — Hiren Rabari and Jimit Rabari — along with 18 unidentified others. The complaint does not name the Bajrang Dal as an organisation by name, but all the accused are described as wearing saffron scarves at the time of the assault. The incident has reignited debate about civic freedoms, the right to read, and the safety of public literary gatherings in Gujarat's largest city. [6]
Anti-trafficking unit hunts 30 missing Ahmedabad minors
More than 500 children remain untraced across Gujarat, with around 30 of those cases under active investigation by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch's Anti-Human Trafficking Unit. The missing children in the Ahmedabad caseload range in age from three to fifteen years, having disappeared from various parts of the city at different points in time. Police suspect that some of the minors may have been victimised by human trafficking networks, though investigators have so far not established a definitive common thread linking all 30 disappearances. Dedicated investigation teams within the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit have been assembled to pursue each case, examining the individual circumstances and leads associated with each child's disappearance. To encourage tips from the public, authorities have announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for anyone who provides information leading to the recovery of a missing child. The cumulative figure of more than 500 untraced children statewide underlines the scale and persistence of the child safety crisis in Gujarat. In a separate development, Western Railway has extended three special train services connecting Ahmedabad and Gandhidham until November 2026, responding to sustained high passenger demand on these corridors and giving daily commuters additional capacity during a period of heavy rail travel demand across the state. [4]
Sources: [6] Deccan Herald · [4] GujaratSamachar English