- Monday, May 06, 2024
Achinthya Sivalingan, who was born in India’s Tamil Nadu, was arrested along with another student and faces disciplinary action, said a university source.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AN Indian-origin student studying at a prestigious university in the US has been arrested and barred from the campus for taking part in pro-Palestine protests.
Achinthya Sivalingan, who was born in Coimbatore in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu and raised in Columbus, is a student of the Princeton University. She faces disciplinary action, said a spokesperson of the university.
The protesters set up tents for a student-led pro-Palestine encampment in McCosh Courtyard at about 7 am on Thursday (25).
Achinthya and another student were arrested following warnings from the university officials while the rest of the protesters packed away their camping gear and held a sit-in demonstration, the Princeton Alumni Weekly said in a report.
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The United States of Israel
Indian-origin student Achinthya Sivalingam arrested in US for joining pro-Palestine protests pic.twitter.com/2q6q1ne72v— Sumit (@SumitHansd) April 26, 2024
About 100 undergraduate and graduate students began a sit-in on McCosh Courtyard, joining a wave of pro-Palestinian sit-ins nationwide.
Read: Two Indian students from Telangana dead in Arizona accident
The protesting students are demanding that colleges sever their financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the deadly Gaza conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have now become antisemitism and they are afraid to enter the campus.
After student organisers first began to erect tents, Princeton Public Safety (PSAFE) issued its first warning to protesters. At least two student arrests have been made. After the initial arrests, students folded them away, the Daily Princetonian reported.
The two students, Achinthya Sivalingam GS and Hassan Sayed GS were arrested within six minutes of the first tents being set up, it was told.
“The two graduate students have been immediately barred from campus, pending a disciplinary process,” university spokesperson Jennifer Morrill wrote to the ‘Prince.’ “No force was used by Public Safety officers when conducting the arrests, which occurred without resistance,” Morrill added.
Students face arrest and being barred from campus if they refuse to stop after a warning, according to a campus-wide message from vice president for Campus Life W Rochelle Calhoun on Wednesday (24) morning.
Urvi, a first-year PhD student, called the arrest “violent” and said zip ties were put around their wrists.
“They’ve been evicted from their houses and were given under five minutes to get their stuff,” she added.
(With PTI inputs)
