Indian researcher at Georgetown University arrested, faces deportation over alleged Hamas links
Indian researcher Badar Khan Suri, a post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University, has been arrested by US immigration officers and faces deportation over allegations of spreading Hamas propaganda and having ties to a suspected terrorist. According to reports, he was taken into custody outside his home in Virginia by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents on Monday night.
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated on social media that Suri "was actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media" and had "close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas." The US Secretary of State issued a determination on March 15 that Suri’s activities made him deportable under INA section 237(a)(4)(C)(i).
Suri’s lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, has argued that the arrest is politically motivated, linking it to the Palestinian heritage of Suri’s wife, who is a US citizen and a student at Georgetown University. The university issued a statement in support of Suri, asserting that it had not received any evidence of illegal activity and emphasizing the importance of academic freedom and free expression.
Suri, an expert in peace and conflict studies, has been teaching a course on Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia and has previously conducted research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan. He completed his PhD at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi in 2020.
His case follows that of another Indian student, Ranjani Srinivasan, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, who recently left the US after her student visa was revoked for participating in pro-Palestine protests. The DHS labeled her a "terrorist sympathizer," stating that her visa was revoked on March 5, and she self-deported on March 11.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem reiterated that those who "advocate terrorism and violence" would not be allowed to remain in the US.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
