Controversy over Palak Paneer, the cost to American University was heavy… Indian students had to pay so many crores of rupees; Know what is the whole matter

Palak Paneer Discrimination: Two Indian PhD students at the University of Colorado Boulder in the US have won a civil rights settlement of $200,000 (about Rs 1.8 crore), along with their dignity, after facing systematic discrimination over their choice to eat Indian food. This lawsuit is related to an incident in 2023, when Aditya Prakash, now 34 years old, was doing PhD in the Anthropology Department of the university.

On September 5, 2023, about a year after joining the university, Prakash said he was heating his palak paneer lunch in the microwave in the department, when a female staff member came to him, complained about the “smell”, and asked him not to use the microwave to heat his food.

What is the whole matter?

“She said the smell was very strong,” Prakash, 34, told The Indian Express. He said that he tried to argue that it was a common place and he also had the right to use it.

Prakash said, “My food is my pride. And what someone likes or dislikes is culturally decided.” He said one of the facility members tried to argue that even heating broccoli was prohibited due to the strong smell. “I responded that context matters. ‘How many groups of people do you know who face racism because they eat broccoli?'”

The matter soon escalated, with Prakash’s partner Urmi Bhattacharya, now 35, joining in and supporting him. The couple alleged that they were discriminated against for standing firm on their stand on the kitchen incident.

Ulta Prakash accused

Prakash claimed that he was repeatedly called to meetings with senior faculty, in which he was accused of “making the staff member feel unsafe”. Bhattacharya said that for supporting Prakash, he was removed from the post of teaching assistant without any explanation.

Prakash said, “The department also refused to give us a master’s degree, which is given to PhD students on the way to PhD. That’s why we decided to take the legal route.” In their lawsuit against the university in the United States District Court of Colorado, Prakash and Bhattacharya alleged that after the kitchen brawl, the university withheld their master’s degrees, which they had earned during their PhDs. He also alleged that he faced an environment that hindered his studies.

The lawsuit argued that the university’s response to their cultural meal was evidence of deep “systemic discrimination” against international students.

In September 2025, the University of Colorado Boulder paid Prakash and Bhattacharya $200,000, settled the case, and awarded them their master’s degrees. However, both have been barred from university admission or employment in future.

Bhattacharya’s viral post

Recently, Bhattacharya shared on his Instagram profile that he has won the case against the university. “This year, I fought a battle – for the freedom to eat what I want and the freedom to protest as I choose… no matter the color of my skin, my ethnic background or my unchanging Indian accent,” she wrote.

“I suffered shocking changes in health that I had never seen before. My self-esteem and confidence gradually diminished, which I had always held dear – which no one had ever dared touch before. Until these actions did, if you have followed our journeys, you did. Well, not for much longer. I will not bow to injustice. I will not remain silent in the face of deliberate manipulation. I I will definitely not bow down to anyone.”

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