Who is Prahlad Iyengar, Indian student suspended by MIT over pro-Palestine essay?
MIT suspended Indian-origin PhD scholar Prahlad Iyengar over a pro-Palestine essay he wrote in the college magazine.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has suspended an Indian-origin PhD scholar over a pro-Palestine essay he wrote in the college magazine last month. Prahlad Iyengar, who is barred from entering his college campus, will remain suspended till January 2026, India Today reported. This would terminate his five-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Iyengar wrote an essay on the pro-Palestine movement that was published in Written Revolution, a multidisciplinary student magazine. MIT believes what he wrote called for violent protests on the campus, and the magazine, too, has been banned. Iyengar reacted to the suspension, saying it highlighted the larger issue of freedom of speech on campuses across America.
Who is Prahlad Iyengar?
Iyengar is reportedly pursuing a PhD from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He had been suspended last year too following the pro-Palestine demonstrations.
Following Iyenger’s latest suspension, the MIT Coalition Against Apartheid started a protest. The group wrote in an X post, “After public backlash against Prahlad's campus ban due to an article about the pro-Palestine movement, MIT pivoted to suspending Prahlad on charges that have been resolved as informal warnings in similar scenarios.”
The college said that Iyenger’s article 'On Pacifism' had language that “could be interpreted as a call for more violent or destructive forms of protests at MIT," according to an email sent by the MIT Dean of Student Life, David Warren Randall, to the magazine's editors. The email added that the article contained images which had a logo of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is a terrorist organisation, according to the US State Department.
According to The Commune Magazine, Iyengar wrote in his essay that pacifist tactics might not be the best course for Palestine. However, he did not directly call for violent resistance.
According to Iyenger, the photos were not provided by him. "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," he wrote in a statement shared on social media by his lawyer Eric Lee.
"These extraordinary actions should concern everyone on camp," he added. "Expelling me and banning Written Revolution from campus as a result of this article would mark an unprecedented attack on the rights of the entire student body and faculty. Consider the precedent MIT has set."
"MIT accuses me of terrorism but how far will this label be applied?" he questioned.
After the magazine was banned too, Iyengar told WBUR, a Boston-based radio channel, that the magazine’s aim was to "put out in our words, what we were doing, why we were doing it and what was happening on campus.”
"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," the MIT Coalition Against Apartheid said in a statement.
On December 9, the coalition even held an emergency rally in support of Iyengar in Cambridge City Hill.
Netizens react
Many supported Iyenger in the comment section of the above post. “So MIT is basically Lockheed Martin lab and anyone who opposes this arrangement gets expelled... got it,” one user wrote, while another said, “Solidarity with Prahlad. He doesn't deserve to be punished merely for having a functional moral compass, and the courage of his convictions!” One user commented, “That’s so unjust. It must be reversed asap.”
However, not everyone supported Iyenger. Many blasted his ideologies in the comment section and said MIT took the right step by suspending him. “The woke virus, which has inundated the US campaign, is now turning into a malady. A student of Indian heritage, belonging to the caste most oppressed by Muslims, is advocating for the terrorist group Hamas. This exemplifies how Wokeism kills logic and reason,” one user wrote. “Good, he should be expelled. Terrorism has no place in civilised society. He's free to go to Gaza or Syria if he feels so strongly,” wrote one, while another said, “Oh please arrest of him and put him in jail..” “Good job MIT!” one user wrote.
Recommended Topics