New Delhi: Two Indian students won a USD 200,000 (Rs 1.8 crore) civil rights over discrimination by the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, involving the heating of palak paneer in a microwave oven.
In September 2023, a staff member of the university reportedly told Aditya Prakash (34) not to heat his lunch in a department microwave, citing its “smell.”
The Indian Express reported that the confrontation began after a staff member complained about the “pungent smell” of Prakash’s lunch.
In his brief response, the Indian student said, “It’s just food. I’m heating and leaving.”
The incident escalated though, leading Prakash, and fellow PhD scholar Urmi Bhattacheryya (35) to file a civil lawsuit against the university in the United States District Court for Colorado. In their complaint, they alleged that after Prakash raised concerns about the “discriminatory treatment,” the university retaliated in response.
The departmental kitchen rules singled out South Asians, discouraging community members from opening their lunches in common areas, the students argued.
While Prakash said he was repeatedly called into meetings with senior faculty over accusations that he made staff “feel unsafe,” Bhattacheryya claimed she was fired from her teaching assistant position without an explanation.
She added that she was accused of “inciting a riot” after eating Indian food for two days following the palak paneer incident.
The legal battle dragged on for two years till the university finally agreed to pay the two USD 200,000 in September 2025 and grant them their Master’s degrees.
They were barred from future enrolment or employment at the university though. The couple returned to India in January 2026.
Bhattacheryya, in a social media post, reflected on the ordeal, writing, “This year, I fought a fight. A fight for the freedom to eat what I want, and to protest at will, no matter the colour of my skin, my ethnic extraction, or the unflinchingly unchanged Indian accent.”
“I endured startling health reversals I’d never encountered before. My self-respect and confidence—things I’d always jealously safeguarded—were steadily chipped away, until these actions touched them. But not for long. I will not be humbled by injustices. I will not be silent in the face of deliberate upheavals. I will certainly kowtow to no one,” she added.
The University of Colorado Boulder has confirmed that it reached a settlement with the students, but denied any liability. A spokesperson added that the university has procedures to handle allegations of discrimination and harassment and followed those processes in this case.
Social media users congratulated the students on winning the lawsuit and praised them for their fight against discrimination after the news spread.
While one user said that he was going to celebrate the news with “more palak paneer”, another person said, “This is what raising your voice the right way looks like. Respect to the courage and work behind it.”
“Palak paneer ka sharp smell nahi aaya toh kya khaaya? The smell is aroma for us. They need to get a life,” an Instagram user posted.
