MIT student Prahlad Iyengar: Student coalition campaigns against MIT’s suspension of Indian-origin student

File picture of Prahlad Iyengar. Photo courtesy: Instagram

MIT Coalition Against Apartheid (MIT CAA) has launched a campaign against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) decision to suspend PhD student Prahlad Iyengar, a student at the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and of Indian-origin, allegedly over his essay supporting the pro-Palestine movement.

“MIT PhD student and National Science Foundation (NSF) fellow Prahlad lyengar has been suspended until January 2026, effectively terminating his 5-year NSF fellowship and severely disrupting his academic career. This suspension is, in practice, an expulsion, as his readmission is entirely contingent upon approval from the same Committee on Discipline (COD) that handed dow this harsh sanction. Prahlad is now appealing the decision to the Chancellor at MIT on December 11, the last opportunity to end this persecution and restore academic dignity. This decision is the harshest among several sanctions resulting from speech-related activities, including an article Prahlad wrote for the student-run zine Written Revolution, which engaged in debate about the role of pacifism in the pro-Palestine movement,” the MIT CAA said, in a post on X.

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Alleging that the MIT administration has “bent to external political pressure, the CAA said that 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”.

The CAA said that the COD has “denied’ fair procedure for Mr. Iyengar and their actions were an “abuse of power, wherein disciplinary procedures have been weaponized for political purposes”.

“Prahlad is now appealing his case with the Chancellor to revoke or reduce the unjust sanctions against him. We have launched a campaign to put pressure on MIT’S administration to stop criminalizing students who stand on the right side of history,” they said.

The essay, allegedly for which Mr. Iyengar has been suspended, was published in Written Revolution, a student-run magazine.

Several universities across the U.S. saw campus protests by students expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine over the war in Gaza.