Indian-origin Megha Vemuri who stirred a major controversy by speaking up for Palestine in her graduation speech at MIT reacted to both the praises and the brickbats that she received following her action. “I can handle the attention, positive and negative, if it means spreading that message further,” Vemuri told CNN. Vemuri gave her commencement speech Thursday and got an instant backlash from MIT as the institute informed her that she and her family would not be allowed to take part in Friday’s ceremony. MIT said the institute respects freedom of expression but not what Vemuri did as she submitted a different speech which was approved and then caught the administration unawares when she blamed MIT for its Israeli ties and called it complicit in the genocide. The MIT, however, will not hold Vemuri’s degree back and she will get her degree, an MIT spokesperson told CNN. Vemuri received huge backlash from MAGA commentators who accused her of selfishly hijacking the event and disregarding the sentiments of the Jewish students at the event. Since her parents are from India, Indian commentators also slammed her for not speaking about the suffering of the Hindus but picking Palestine to come across as ‘woke’. “What I am dealing with right now is absolutely nothing compared to the people of Palestine, and I’d take on much more if it meant helping their cause,” Vemuri said. Vemuri said her family stood by her and she was not disappointed when she was not allowed to walk the stage on the second day event. “I see no need for me to walk across the stage of an institution that is complicit in this genocide,” Vemuri said. “I am, however, disappointed that MIT’s officials massively overstepped their roles to punish me without merit or due process, with no indication of any specific policy broken,” she added.Amid the backlash, Megha Vemuri, a neuroscience graduate from MIT, has deleted her LinkedIn and X accounts.
