Washington: Prahlad Iyengar, an Indian-origin student pursuing his studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was suspended for writing an essay on Palestine, as per media reports.
Iyengar was pursuing PhD from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science but his five-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship will be terminated now.
MIT barred Iyengar from entering college premises over the essay, written for last month’s magazine which it found calling for violence.
Furthermore, the institute also banned ‘Written Revolution,’ a multidisciplinary student magazine which mainly writes about the pro-Palestine movement.
Iyengar wrote an essay called ‘On Pacifism,’ which featured a logo of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terror organisation designated by the US State Department.
However, Iyengar clarified that the charges of terrorism against him were because the photos were not provided by him.
His lawyer Eric argued, “The administration accuses me of supporting ‘terrorism’, because the edition in which my article appears includes images of posters from the Popular Front for the Liberation and of containing violent imagery in the publication.”
Meanwhile, David Warren Randall, MIT Dean of Student Life sent a mail to the magazine editors that the essay comprised of language that “could be interpreted as a call for more violent or destructive forms of protests at MIT.”
Iyengar was also suspended last year following pro-Palestinie protests.
Following Iyengar’s suspension, MIT Coalition Against Apartheid began a protest against the institute’s decision.
“Prahlad is now appealing his case with the Chancellor to reduce the unjust sanctions against him. We have launched a campaign to put pressure on MIT’s administration to stop criminalising students who stand on the right side of history. We call on all organisations and institutions of conscience to sign up and stand up to MIT’s repression,” it said.
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