It is scary when the state targets educational institutions and makes them the site for political repression. It is scarier when the state targets international students residing in university accommodations, and forces them to leave. What must be said, how much must be permissible, which protest is allowed and which is not, cannot be the state’s sole jurisdiction. If students are not allowed to express their opinions inside their institutions, where must they protest?
Ranjani Srinivasan’s recent self-deportation raises these questions and many more. A 37-year-old PhD student and a Fullbright recipient, she was forced to leave the United States of America under uncertain situations.
A 37-year-old PhD student and a Fullbright recipient, she was forced to leave the United States of America under uncertain situations.
Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian national pursuing a doctoral degree in urban planning at Columbia University decided to leave the country when federal officers knocked on her door at her apartment on-campus housing. Her roommate resisted and did not let them in. It was then that Srinivasan packed a small bag and left the country she had been studying in. She sought help from immigration attorneys and has temporarily taken refuge in Canada.
Ranjani is accused of having been an active participant in the pro-Palestine protests organised by student groups at Columbia University. Early in March, the university witnessed widespread protests against the Israeli government’s atrocities. They had to call the police to deter the protestors and demolish their encampment. Srinivasan is believed to have been participating in these protests and as a result, has had her F1 visa revoked.
State instilling fear
When the state enters a university campus, it is almost always meant to silence the opinions and establish a majority-approved discourse. Ranjani Srinivasan in an interview with The Hindu confesses that she is ‘super afraid of retaliation,’ as she is not aware of the specific charges brought against her by the American authorities. These charges eventually led to her disenrollment from the university just six months before completing her PhD thesis.
A state aims to maintain its hegemony by instilling fear in dissidents. Ranjani who did not think much of the protests and her social media posts supporting Palestine, became worried after the disappearance of Mahmoud Khalil from the Columbia University campus. Khalil was also arrested on similar charges and feared deportation leaving his expecting wife behind.
The state has repressive power, it controls the law and the police force, but applying state force to silence any voice against the propaganda is pitiful.
The state has repressive power, it controls the law and the police force, but applying state force to silence any voice against the propaganda is pitiful. Educational institutions are and must be the sanctum of the free flow of knowledge. They must be a haven for dissent and debate, but when the state assumes power and represses freedom in educational institutions, intellect dies many deaths.
The legal perspective
Ms Srinivasan self-deported or voluntarily left the country after her application for continuance of her F1 Visa was rejected. While there is no formal explanation from the authority, she is accused of having been allegedly involved in activities supporting the Palestinian group Hamas and ‘advocating for violence and terrorism.’
The state law explains that Ranjani could have continued her stay in the country for a fortnight after the revocation of her visa, but she had to leave promptly due to the increasing political pressure. She is currently in an undisclosed location in Canada, waiting for some clarity from the authorities and hoping for a chance to complete her doctoral thesis.
Ms. Srinivasan even approached her college authorities asking for help but she documents a marked change in their behaviour, including the Dean of Student Affairs at Columbia University. She states; ‘It is kind of inexplicable how it happened. There aren’t any legal grounds to deport me…my lawyers tell me very frankly that this is unprecedented but also unpredictable. There are so many facets of the F1 Visa over which the Department of State has full discretion. So, we don’t really know what they are charging me with but it seems like that they will charge me with something.’
She is currently in an undisclosed location in Canada, waiting for some clarity from the authorities and hoping for a chance to complete her doctoral thesis.
The case is unclear, the government has not explained the entire extent of the charges and the reasons behind it but as Ms. Srinivasan asserts, ‘there is no de-escalation‘ from the side of the U.S. authorities.
Sense of security on the campus.
Educational institutions and their campuses are supposed to be the safest places to express and experiment. Recently, it has become a trend for institutions to barge into campuses and exert physical force to repress any dissenting opinion. The campus life and the sense of security of students are dwindling under pressure from diverse governmental agencies on and off campus.
Universities around the world are built on the foundations of dissent. As Ranjani asserts, ‘Columbia itself has a very long history of dissent. That is the case with most universities in the U.S., as they are generally places of fierce contestation of ideas.’ When the state silences the dissent in universities, it makes sure that there are no sparks of revolution in the city.
The lack of security has shaken Ranjani to the core. ‘I do feel like that if it can happen to someone who does not have the markings of someone who is usually targeted, then it could happen to anyone with an F-1 visa as the University is supposed to protect us as in a way we all strangers in a foreign land.’
The force asserted on her is a statement of the state’s policy dealing with immigrants. The U.S. president Mr. Donald Trump has always been vocal about his views on immigrants and “aliens”. Is the selective action forced on immigrant academicians a subtle message for all aspirants to deter their plans? This fear for life and safety for stating one’s opinion only establishes the U.S. government as tyrannical.
State targeted deportations
Columbia University should have safeguarded its students against the hegemonical attack, but what would an institution do if it is repressed too?
The White House on Tuesday (March 11, 2025) complained that Columbia University is refusing to help federal agents find people the government is targeting. The government expressed its discontent over the University’s non-compliance in locating the targeted students as part of its efforts to deport participants in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. As a result of this non-compliance, the administration continued to punish the school by yanking federal research dollars.
As a result of this non-compliance, the administration continued to punish the school by yanking federal research dollars.
The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the federal authorities have been ‘using intelligence‘ to identify other people on the campus demonstrations dissenting with the government’s views on the Israel-Palestinian war. The administration considers these protestors to be “antisemitic”.
In a blow to the university, the Trump administration announced that it was pulling 400 million dollars in grants and contracts from Columbia, almost crippling the institution. The University has been accused of failing to stop antisemitism on campus. The National Institute of Health cut more than 250 million dollars in funding including more than 400 grants late Monday (March 10, 2025).
Ranjani Srinivasan’s deportation is unfortunate but it is not an isolated incident. Students like Khalil and Leqaa Kordia have also been met with the same treatment, if not worse, to make a statement. The brutality does not end at the state’s repression and student’s deportation, it is made worse by state representatives revelling in the act of brutality.
The secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem posted on her X handle, ‘It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country. I am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home App to self-deport.’
When governments assume that basic human rights and entry into their country is a privilege, it unveils their hegemonic status. The governments are taking pride in students being silenced and deported from their lands in fear. This is the world we are living in, this is the world we have built together.
