Goa, March 21 -- A US judge ruled on Thursday that Badar Khan Suri, an Indian researcher at Georgetown University, should not be removed from the country after his arrest and the threat of expulsion due to alleged ties with Hamas. This detention sparked concerns within the academic community about the increasing challenges to freedom of research and speech, especially as President Trump's new term progresses.

Suri's lawyer criticized the arrest, calling it a "targeted, retaliatory detention" aimed at silencing or restricting speech, particularly for those advocating for Palestinian rights. Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles of the Eastern District of Virginia Court issued an order preventing Suri's removal from the US unless further court act...