Palak paneer row ends in $2 lac settlement, Indian PhD scholars leave US
A dispute over heating palak paneer led to a $200,000 settlement for two Indian PhD students who alleged discrimination and have now left the US.Summary
A legal battle stemming from an incident involving palak paneer ended with a $200,000 settlement for two Indian PhD students, Aditya Prakash and Urmi Bhattacheryya, at the University of Colorado Boulder. The dispute began in September 2023 when a staff member objected to the smell of Prakash’s lunch, leading to allegations of discrimination and retaliation from the couple. They claimed the university fostered an environment where Indian students felt anxious about bringing their food to shared spaces and faced repercussions for doing so, including loss of teaching assistantships and accusations of creating an unsafe environment.
The couple filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in May 2025, alleging a pattern of escalating retaliation. While the university settled the case, agreeing to pay $200,000 and confer Master’s degrees, it also barred them from future enrollment or employment. Both students reported emotional distress and a loss of faith in the US academic system.
Having returned to India permanently earlier this month, Prakash and Bhattacheryya believe their experience reflects a broader trend of decreasing tolerance for cultural differences and increased scrutiny of immigrants and people of color in the US, particularly following recent political shifts.
(Source：Daijiworld)