US Moves to Deport Indian Researcher Over Alleged Hamas Propaganda

20th March 2025 at 11:18 AM

2 minutes read

Badar Khan Suri | IANS

An Indian researcher studying at Georgetown University in Washington DC, has been detained by U.S. immigration authorities and now faces deportation, according to his lawyer. Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, was arrested by agents outside his Virginia home on Monday night. The officials, identifying themselves as representatives of the Department of Homeland Security, informed Suri that his visa had been revoked.

Suri is accused of “spreading Hamas propaganda” and is alleged to have close ties with a senior advisor linked to Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. Secretary of State and others. In a statement posted on X, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed that Suri, formerly a foreign exchange student at Georgetown, was actively promoting pro-Hamas content and antisemitism on social media. The Secretary of State determined on March 15, 2025, that Suri’s actions rendered him deportable under immigration law.

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… https://t.co/gU02gLAlX1
— Tricia McLaughlin (@TriciaOhio) March 20, 2025

Suri’s lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, contends that the arrest is politically motivated, suggesting that the action against his client is connected to the Palestinian heritage of Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh. Saleh, a first-year student at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, has academic credentials from the Islamic University of Gaza and Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi. A Georgetown spokesperson stated that Suri had been granted a visa to pursue his research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan and that the university is not aware of any illegal activity on his part, emphasizing support for academic freedom and open debate.

Who Is Badar Khan Suri

Dr. Badar Khan Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. This semester, he is teaching a course on “Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia.” He completed his PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies at the Nelson Mandela Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi in 2020. His interdisciplinary research focuses on issues of religion, violence, peace, and ethnic conflicts in both the Middle East and South Asia.

Indians in the US Face Deportation

In a related case, Ranjani Srinivasan, a 37-year-old Indian doctoral student at Columbia University studying urban planning, self-deported after her student visa was revoked. Her visa was cancelled on March 5, 2025, by the U.S. Department of State due to concerns over her participation in pro-Palestine protests, which officials linked to activities supporting Hamas. Video footage obtained by the Department of Homeland Security shows Srinivasan using the Customs and Border Protection app to process her self-deportation on March 11. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described Srinivasan as a “terrorist sympathiser,” arguing that individuals who advocate terrorism and violence should not be allowed to remain in the United States.