Three federal immigration agents showed up at a Columbia University apartment searching for Ranjani Srinivasan, who had recently learned her student visa had been revoked. Ms. Srinivasan, an international student from India, did not open the door.

She was not home when the agents showed up again the next night, just hours before a former Columbia student living in campus housing, Mahmoud Khalil, was detained, roiling the university. Ms. Srinivasan packed a few belongings, left her cat behind with a friend and jumped on a flight to Canada at LaGuardia Airport.

When the agents returned a third time, this past Thursday night, and entered her apartment with a judicial warrant, she was gone.

“The atmosphere seemed so volatile and dangerous,” Ms. Srinivasan, 37, said on Friday in an interview with The New York Times, her first public remarks since leaving. “So I just made a quick decision.”

…

The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement that characterized Ms. Srinivasan as a terrorist sympathizer and accused her of advocating violence and being “involved in activities supporting Hamas, a terrorist organization.” The department did not provide any evidence for its allegations.

…

She said that her activity on social media had been mostly limited to liking or sharing posts that highlighted “human rights violations” in the war in Gaza. And she said that she had signed several open letters related to the war, including one by architecture scholars that called for “Palestinian liberation.”

“I’m just surprised that I’m a person of interest,” she said. “I’m kind of a rando, like, absolute rando,” she said, using slang for random.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/15/nyregion/columbia-student-kristi-noem-video.html

I take no issue with what this person believes in. Whatever it is, fine by me. But I do have a question. What happened to putting theory into practice? Advocating for “Palestinian liberation” from the comfort of one's home in one of the richest universities is certainly easy and convenient instead of going out to Palestine directly and grappling with the violence that such an advocacy ends up justifying. The latter is perhaps a little discomforting for some of these folks who proudly proclaim themselves as professors of revolution but run away at the first sign of intimidation. So much for their alleged commitment. Shoved into spotlight and asked to justify their controversial positions and which have had very real consequences out there in the world, they can only moan that they are just a random, ordinary person going about their life. Such a pitiful sight.

Agree. There was an example where an Insta influencer was seen participating in Palestine protests just for engagement, making KPop finger heart signs and pouting at the camera. When she was later confronted she said she had no idea of the conflict and generally came to support “peace and love”.

There are different ways to support a revolution. Armchair folks signing petitions are not unimportant because they help in shaping the public opinion, theoretically. I'm talking of movements in general, not in particular.

Eg: If Nepali professors and students in India had written more about Bhutan's treatment of Nepali citizens, we'd know more about them.

I would agree with you if signing petitions was all about publicizing injustice and influencing public opinion. But in the case of this concerned scholar, the petitions had more to do with bullying other students, faculty, and administrators who dared to disagree with them. It was about showcasing ideological power than an honest attempt to educate and organise the broader public opinion.

The lack of conviction is baffling. She takes no responsibility for her actions at all “ I’m just an absolute rando” “ screaming into the abyss that is social media”. If that’s how unserious you are your thinking and speech on such an emotive issue why on earth were you so convinced of your righteousness ? Why on earth would you jump on to bandwagons and sign petitions and support Hamas as if it is all meaningless, a fad, like being a BTS fangirl. How silly and coddled do you have to be to behave this way?

In any case absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. It does not seem that NYT has really investigated what led to her visa being revoked. If she failed to disclose arrests- that is breaking the law. “I just sort of put no” is not a good excuse - how is a Fulbright scholar this unserious?

And all this drama about self deporting as if men from federal government were breaking down her door to assault her is nonsense. The record of what the ICE officer said seems like he was almost bored and exasperated - like a parent tired of their kid locking themselves in their room. Be a damn adult and learn how to handle a situation without devolving into histrionics.

There were women your age at the nova festival who were much more scared when men with guns came around and took them. There are women today in Gaza who are actually at risk of being harmed not just by the IDF but also by Hamas. You had a seemingly nice officer knock on your door offer you advice about not antagonising law enforcement and assure you that they will follow the legal process.

In any case I seriously doubt it’s just failing to disclose meaningless arrests. I find Ms Srinivasan an incredibly insincere and unreliable narrator and there might be more in her file that she hasn’t disclosed. It seems to be a pattern with these pro-Hamas folks that their stories just don’t add up. They seek to minimise their own actions when moments before they were soaking up the glory of being rebels. You cannot take Hamilton hall by force and then demand the university bring you food. Get a grip.

I would honestly respect her more if she stuck to her guns and said - I said what I said and did what I did and I think it was right.