An Indian-origin PhD scholar has been suspended from the reputed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for writing a 'pro-Palestine' essay for a college magazine last month that the college saw as potentially calling for violent protests.
Prahlad Iyengar, who is pursuing a PhD from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was suspended till January 2026, which could effectively end his academic career at MIT as it will terminate his five-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Iyengar’s suspension resulted from his essay “On Pacifism“, which was published in the October issue of the student journal Written Revolution, which has also been banned from the campus. The MIT said the essay contained language that could be “interpreted as a call for violent protests”.
Why was Iyengar suspended?
This is the second time Iyengar has been suspended from MIT, after a similar punishment last year following pro-Palestinian protests across the university. The MIT administration said his article “On Pacifism” contained images of posters from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is a terrorist organisation.
MIT is effectively expelling PhD student Prahlad Iyengar for Palestine activism on campus. EMERGENCY RALLY: Cambridge City Hall, Monday, 12/9 at 5:30pm. Org sign-on to letter: https://t.co/tCOrOLTeNy pic.twitter.com/7cAYrvn5ad
MIT Coalition Against Apartheid (@mit_caa) December 8, 2024
The college found that the article made “several troubling statements” about the history of violence and non-violence, including in anti-colonial movements of the mid-20th century, and that “these statements could be interpreted as a call for more violent or destructive forms of protest at MIT.”
Iyengar reacts
The MIT Coalition Against Apartheid strongly condemned the decision to suspend the Indian-origin PhD Scholar, saying it was the harshest among several sanctions resulting from speech-related activities. It also staged a protest against Iyengar’s suspension.
“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,” it said on X. “The COD lumped Prahlad’s case with another ongoing disciplinary case to paint Prahlad as a “repeat offender”, but suddenly and arbitrarily split the case into two parts after facing significant public criticism for violating his free speech.”
Prahlad said his expulsion would mark an “unprecedented attack” on the rights of the student body and MIT faculty. “These extraordinary actions should concern everyone on campus… I don’t ask that you agree with my views on these questions, but they have been subject to legitimate debate on the left for many decades and it is my First Amendment right to contribute to this discussion,” he said.
Iyengar will appealing the decision to the Chancellor at MIT on December 11 which is the last opportunity for him to salvage his career at the university. The decision to suspend him has highlighted the growing debate on the boundaries of free speech in American educational institutions.
(With PTI inputs)
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