Prahlad Iyengar | Photo: Instagram/ @lilpayload
MIT recently suspended an Indian-origin research scholar for allegedly writing a pro-Palestine piece for a student journal in October, prompting an open letter by a group of the university's teachers with a call to "immediately reinstate Prahlad Iyengar's access to campus, with full rights".
According to sources, Prahlad Iyengar, a PhD candidate at MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was prohibited from the college in November until January 2026.
Written Revolution, the publication that published Iyengar's essay, has also been banned by MIT. According to the sources, Iyengar held a five-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Indian Express reported.
His suspension resulted from an essay titled "On Pacifism" that appeared in the student journal's October issue. On November 1, Iyengar was charged with policy infractions and banned from campus. Iyengar's lawyer, Eric Lee, released the PhD scholar's statement on X.
Iyenger said in his statement, “In the sanction letter sent by MIT’s Division of Student Life on November 1, the administration accuses me of supporting “terrorism” because the edition of Written Revolution in which my article appeared includes images of posters from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The letter reads: “The inclusion of symbolism from a U.S. designated terrorist organization containing violent imagery in a publication by an MIT-recognized student group is deeply concerning.” The letter also says that my article “makes several troubling statements” about the history of violence and non-violence, including in anti-colonial movements of the mid 20th century. Referring to anonymous complaints filed by Zionist students, the letter says, “the reports MIT received indicated that these statements could be interpreted as a call for more violent or destructive forms of protest at MIT”.
According to Iyenger's statement, MIT's Dean of Student Life, David Randall, also informed the editor of Written Revolution via email that "our publication is now officially banned and censored".
Meanwhile, in an open letter in the varsity's newsletter, the MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) endorsed Iyengar and asked for the institution to "immediately reinstate" his "access to campus, with full rights” “… and for his case to be heard in a fair, rules-based disciplinary process that is based on credible evidence and facts, and that is protected by principles of freedom of speech, expression, and due process,” Sally Haslanger, President, MIT AAUP Chapter, and Erica James, Vice-President, said in the letter.
“The alleged violations are serious, and they call for a proper investigation of facts found in evidence, not suspicions or hearsay. Instead, Iyengar has been pre-judged, banned, and assigned punitive consequences without due process,” they said.
They further stated that suspending a student for their contributions to a publication that “does not incite violence but instead constitutes a serious engagement with an ongoing political debate is a violation of longstanding principles of free expression on American college campuses and MIT’s own endorsement of these same principles”.