Pakistani student attacked in Pondicherry leaves for home

KARACHI: Ali Hasan Raza, a Pakistani student attacked at Pondicherry University, left for Pakistan on Thursday evening after the Indian authorities gave him permission to travel back home, according to an Indian media website. Raza flew to New Delhi on Thursday from Chennai. He is expected to travel onwards from New Delhi to Lahore. In a phone conversation with The New Indian Express, Raza said that the Indian Home Ministry had permitted him to return to his home country, adding that he was being escorted by the Pondicherry police personnel. He also said that he would be willing to return to India in case his presence was required by the investigating team to cooperate in the probe of the assault against him. Raza was attacked while sleeping by three unidentified men in his room at the Sir CV Raman Hostel on Tuesday. The attackers beat him with iron rods and liquor bottles. Raza sustained injuries on his head, neck and back. The 24-year-old was severely wounded and is being treated at the Puducherry Institute of Medical Science (PIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer). During treatment, Raza said the attackers were his age and may be students of the university. Raza was doing a post-graduate course in South Asian studies. He is the first and only Pakistani student in Pondicherry University. In response to the attack, the Student Federation of India (SFI) secretary A Anand voiced concern over the incident and said the university must take all measures to bring the perpetrators of the attack to justice. The university also issued new restrictions on entries to the boys’ hostel. Leftist parties send memo to Indian President Leaders of Indian left-wing parties in a memorandum urged President Pranab Mukherji to take action against the assault of the Pakistani student at Pondicherry University. They said that the incident could have serious repercussions on Pakistan-India bilateral relations, as well as on the regional and international politics. Furthermore, they said the attack may give rise to speculations that the incident was due to communal and nationalist motivations. The attack occurred on the last day of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are expected to win. The memorandum was signed by office bearers of the Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM), All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).