NEW DELHI: The Centre said on Friday that it expects Indian nationals abroad to comply with local laws and regulations, just as India expects foreign nationals to do the same here, responding to questions about one Indian student self-deporting and another facing deportation from the US over their alleged pro-Hamas stance.
Ranjani Srinivasan, a 37-year-old Indian student pursuing a doctoral degree in urban planning at Columbia University, self-deported last week, days after her student visa was revoked. The US Department of State had cancelled her visa on March 5, citing security concerns related to her alleged involvement in activities "supporting Hamas."
Badar Khan Suri, postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, was detained over allegations of spreading antisemitism and having ties to the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.
“When it comes to visa and immigration policy, it lies within the sovereign function of a country. We expect the foreign nationals coming to India to 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,” the spokesperson said without naming any individual.
Responding to the case of Badar Khan Suri in the US, Randhir Jaiswal stated, “We understand from media reports that this individual has been detained. Neither the US government nor the individual has reached out to us or the Embassy.”
A US federal judge on Thursday blocked the deportation of Badar Khan Suri, who was arrested after federal authorities accused him of "actively spreading Hamas propaganda." In a court order dated March 20, United States District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles ruled, “It is ordered that the petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the court issues a contrary order.”
Khan, a Georgetown University researcher, is studying and teaching in the US on a student visa and is accused by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of "spreading Hamas propaganda" and having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist.”