Aditya Prakash, who is doing PhD in the Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, was heating his homemade Palak Paneer in the department’s microwave on September 5, 2023. Then suddenly a staff member came to him and complained about the strong smell of food and asked him not to use the microwave. Aditya was 34 years old at that time. Maintaining calm, he said clearly, ‘It’s just food. I am leaving after warming up. But the matter did not end here. This incident later became a big case of racial discrimination and retaliation against a renowned university of America.

Aditya Prakash was a fully funded PhD student at the time of the incident. His partner Urmi Bhattacharya, herself a PhD scholar, was doing well academically. Everything remained normal for the first one year, but after the Palak Paneer incident, the situation changed. Aditya alleges that when he raised questions about discrimination, the university started a series of continuous harassment against him.

called in front of senior faculty

He was repeatedly called before the senior faculty. He was told that because of him the staff was feeling unsafe. Complaints were made against him to the Office of Student Conduct. Urmi Bhattacharya says that the job of teaching assistant was taken away from her without any warning. Two days later, when she brought Indian food with some students, she was even accused of inciting a riot on the campus. However, these complaints were later rejected.

Systemic racism and civil rights case

In May 2025, Aditya and Urmi filed a civil rights case in the US federal court (District of Colorado). They alleged that the department’s kitchen policy has an unequal and discriminatory impact on South Asian students. Indian students are intimidated from opening their food in common places. Aditya called it not just an incident but systematic racism.

Settlement of 2 lakh dollars, but ban on withdrawal

In September 2025, the University of Colorado Boulder reached a settlement in this matter. Under this, a total of 2 lakh dollars (about Rs 1.7 crore) were given to Aditya and Urmi. Both were given a master’s degree mid-way through their PhD, but were permanently barred from studying or working at a university in the future. The university issued a statement saying it does not admit any wrongdoing, but the matter has been resolved. Shortly after this, both the students returned to India forever.

Student Support Institutional Paradox

In this entire controversy, 29 students of the Anthropology department openly supported Aditya and Urmi. Describing the reaction of the department as harmful, he said that diversity in a subject like Anthropology should not only be tolerated but also respected. This statement also matched the university’s own Systemic Racism Statement, which was on paper but not visible in practice. Urmi Bhattacharya believes that this incident is also related to the changing political environment in America, especially after the return of Donald Trump, changes have been seen.

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