The dispute began in September 2023 when Aditya Prakash, then a doctoral student, was heating his lunch in a department microwave. A staff member allegedly asked him to stop, complaining about the food’s “pungent smell.” Prakash responded that he was “just heating and leaving.”
According to court filings, the situation escalated after he raised concerns about discriminatory treatment.
Prakash and his partner, Urmi Bhattacheryya, later filed a civil lawsuit in a US federal court, alleging:
Racial and cultural discrimination
Retaliation after questioning the staff member’s remarks
Departmental kitchen rules that implicitly targeted South Asian food, discouraging students from opening lunch boxes in shared spaces
Prakash said he was repeatedly summoned to meetings with senior faculty and accused of making staff “feel unsafe.” Bhattacheryya alleged she was removed from her teaching assistant role without explanation and accused of “inciting a riot” after continuing to eat Indian food on campus.
After nearly two years of legal proceedings, the university agreed in September 2025 to:
Pay USD 200,000 to the two students
Award them their Master’s degrees
However, under the settlement terms, they were barred from future enrolment or employment at the university. The couple has since returned to India.
The University of Colorado Boulder confirmed the settlement but denied any wrongdoing, stating that it followed internal procedures for handling discrimination complaints.
Bhattacheryya later reflected on the episode in a social media post, calling it a fight for “the freedom to eat what I want, and to protest at will, no matter the colour of my skin or my accent.” She described the period as emotionally and physically draining, but said she refused to be silenced.
The case has since sparked a wider debate online about cultural bias, food shaming, and inclusion on international campuses, with many hailing the verdict as a rare but important stand against everyday discrimination faced by foreign students in the West.
As one social media user put it, celebrating the verdict:
“If palak paneer doesn’t smell, what are you even eating?”
