In recent events, two Indian PhD students at US University of Colorado Boulder won a civil rights settlement of $200,000 (approx. Rs 1.8 crore), along with their dignity. This happened after they faced discrimination over their choice of Indian food and the lawsuit related to a 2023 incident when Aditya Prakash was pursuing his PhD at the university’s Anthropology Department. Read to know what happened here.
About The Indian Students
On September 5, 2023, Aditya Prakash said that a year into joining the university, he was heating his palak paneer in the microwave for lunch. Just then, a female staff member from the department walked up to him and complained about the ‘smell’ from his food and asked him not to use the microwave for the same. The 34-year-old told the Indian Express, “The smell was pungent, she said.” He revealed arguing with her since it was a private space, and that he, too, had access to it.
Prakash mentioned how his food was his pride and that notions about such are culturally determined. He also revealed that one of the faculty members tried arguing that even broccoli heating was prohibited due to strong odour, to which he fired back, questioning how many groups ever faced racism because they ate broccoli. This escalated soon after his partner, Urmi Bhattacheryya, got involved and alleged that they were subjected to discrimination.
Prakash said that he was constantly called into meetings with senior faculty over accusations that he made the staff member feel ‘unsafe.’ Bhattacheryya reveal that she was fired from her position as a teaching assistant without any explanation for supporting her partner. The department also refused to grant them master’s degrees that PhD students were awarded, leading them to take legal action.
Their lawsuit said that the university’s reaction to their cultural food was ‘systematic bias’ against international students. And in September 2025, the University of Colorado Boulder paid the duo a whopping $200,000, settling the case and conferring their master’s degree on them. However, the two have been barred from future enrollment or employment at the university.
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