I am just surprised, ‘self-deported’ Indian student tells ‘The New York Times’

Noting that she was not an activist or part of groups that organised protests at Columbia University, Indian doctoral student Ranjani Srinivasan, who “self-deported” from the United States after her visa was revoked, said she was “surprised” at being a “person of interest” for the country’s administration, reported The New York Times on Saturday.

In an interview to the newspaper, Srinivasan said: “I am kind of a rando [random], like, absolute rando.”

Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, had gone to the US on a student visa as a doctoral student in urban planning at New York’s Columbia University.

On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said that Srinivasan’s student visa had been revoked for allegedly supporting Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated that the action was due to Srinivasan “advocating for violence and terrorism”. She added that the Indian scholar had voluntarily left the country using the CBP Home App, or the Customs and Border Protection Home mobile application.

The app allows undocumented immigrants or persons whose visa has expired or has been revoked to notify the US government of their intent to leave the country, “offering them the chance to leave before facing harsher consequences”.

Srinivasan told The New York Times that she received an email from the US Consulate in Chennai indicating that her visa had been revoked on...

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