Indian-origin student arrested and banned for pro-Palestine protest in Princeton University

An Indian-origin student was arrested on Thursday for participating in a pro-Palestine protest at Princeton University. Achinthya Sivalingan was one of the two students who were arrested at the protest site.

Sivalingam has been banned from the university for participating in the agitation within the campus premises, pending a disciplinary process.

According to the Princeton Alumni Weekly, Coimbatore-born Achinthya and Hassan Sayed were arrested when the student protesters were setting up the tents in the university courtyard on the morning of April 25.

The college alumni magazine wrote about the arrests. It read, "A document shared by protesters identified the arrested students as Achinthya Sivalingan and Hassan Sayed. Urvi, a first-year Ph.D. student who asked to be identified only by her first name, called the arrest violent and said zip ties were put around their wrists."

Jennifer Morrill, a spokesperson for the University, released a statement about the arrest. Jennifer said, "Pitching tents violated University policy, leading to the arrest of the two students for trespassing after repeated warnings from the Department of Public Safety to cease the activity and leave the area.”

Achinthya Sivalingan is pursuing a Master’s in Public Affairs (MPA) in International Development at Princeton. Sayed is a fifth-year PhD student in the economics department at Princeton.

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