Days after Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian PhD student in Columbia University, “self-deported” after her US visa was revoked, the government said Friday that Indian nationals in foreign countries must “comply with local laws and regulations”. This clearly indicates that Delhi has distanced itself from her activities there. Srinivasan’s visa was revoked on March 5 by the Trump administration for allegedly “advocating for violence and terrorism” by supporting Hamas, and she left the US on March 11. Responding to questions, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said, “When it comes to visa and immigration policy, it is something that lies within the sovereign functions of a country. We, on our side, expect that when we have foreign nationals coming to India, they abide by our laws and regulations, and similarly, it is our expectation that when Indian nationals are abroad, they must also comply with local laws and regulations.” On the detention of Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, Jaiswal said, “This particular individual who has been detained, neither the US government, nor this individual has approached us or the embassy.” Meanwhile, a US federal judge has blocked the deportation of Suri, accused by federal authorities of “actively spreading Hamas propaganda”. PTI adds from New York: In a court order dated March 20, United States District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said, “It is ordered that petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order.” A senior Department of Homeland Security spokesperson earlier said in a statement to PTI that “Suri was a foreign exchange student at Georgetown University actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media. Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.” “The Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15, 2025 that Suri’s activities and presence in the United States rendered him deportable.” Suri’s lawyer Hassan Ahmad had filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus on March 18. According to the petition, the Department of Homeland Security had arrested and charged Suri with “removability” on March 17. At the time of filing, Suri alleged he was being detained at the Farmville Detention Center in Farmville, Virginia, Giles’ order had noted. Suri’s lawyer said he and his team are working “diligently” to secure his client’s removal from the detention facility. “We welcome Judge Giles' ruling,” Ahmad said in a statement to CNN. “It is the first due process Dr Suri has received since he was snatched away from his family on Monday night.” A report in Politico had said that Suri, who was studying and teaching on a student visa, was “detained by federal immigration authorities amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activists whom the government accuses of opposing American foreign policy.” The report said that “masked agents” arrested Suri from outside his home in Virginia Monday night. Suri’s lawyer said in the petition that he is being punished “because of the Palestinian heritage of his wife — who is a US citizen — and because the government suspects that he and his wife oppose US foreign policy toward Israel.” The petition says the couple has “long been doxxed and smeared” on anonymously run, far-right websites due to their support for Palestinian rights. The petition adds that Suri’s wife Mapheze Saleh has been alleged to have “ties with Hamas” and once worked for Al Jazeera.
