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Harvard University apologizes to protest Hindu organization for ‘insulting’ Indian culture

By Sandy Verma

Harvard University has been accused of insulting Indian culture by promoting Sanskrit courses. The university authorities apologized for this unintended incident. Harvard’s Department of South Asian Studies expressed deep sorrow over the protests by the Hindu community. Controversy about what exactly?

Harvard University advertised with pictures to promote its Sanskrit course. It was alleged that the film has distorted Sanskrit and Hinduism. An artwork was used by the University’s Department of South Asian Studies to promote the curriculum. The artwork titled ‘Master of Puppets’ was created by Indian artist Aniruddha Sainath. It was claimed that the painting is based on the theme of Mahabharata and Lord Krishna’s Rasalila. However, Hindu organizations have alleged that the image used by the university offensively portrays the Sanskrit language and Hinduism. In this atmosphere, an organization called ‘Coalition of Hindus of North America’ started strong protest. The university authorities followed this.

In a statement on Friday, the concerned department of the university said, “We are deeply saddened by the posting of a sensitive picture about our Sanskrit programme. Our department has a long history of teaching Sanskrit and we are committed to this language and the intellectual and cultural heritage associated with it. All measures will be taken to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. Hindu organizations welcomed Harvard’s statement.

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