Harvard Sanskrit Row: Harvard University apologizes, there was an uproar over the controversial promotion of Sanskrit course.

News India Live, Digital Desk: The world’s prestigious Harvard University is once again in the news, but this time the reason is not a ranking but a cultural controversy. The Hindu community had expressed its displeasure over a post made by the university’s Divinity School to promote Sanskrit, after which the institution had to step back.1. What was the whole controversy? (The Controversy) The controversy began when Harvard shared a post on social media to promote its new Sanskrit language course. Objectionable context: The Hindu community and several scholars alleged that the post merely presented Sanskrit as a ‘dead language’ or an ‘academic object’, while ignoring its spiritual and living cultural significance. Community reaction: Several Hindu organizations in the US and India termed it a ‘cultural Termed as ‘Cultural Insensitivity’. His argument was that Sanskrit is part of the faith and daily prayers of millions of people.2. What did Harvard say in its apology? Seeing the growing protest, the relevant department of Harvard University admitted its mistake. Formal apology: The university said, “Our intention was not to hurt anyone’s sentiments. We respect the deep historical and spiritual importance of Sanskrit and apologize for this unintentional omission.” Removal of post: The post in question has now been removed and in its place a new context has been added showing the importance of Sanskrit.3. Harvard’s inclination towards SanskritDespite controversies, interest in Sanskrit and Indian philosophy is continuously increasing at Harvard. Significance of the course: Harvard’s ‘Department of South Asian Studies’ is one of the few centers in the world where deep research is done on ancient texts. New initiative: The university is now starting a digital library and interactive courses to make the original texts of Hinduism and Buddhism accessible to modern students.4. Expert Opinion Academics believe global universities need to exercise greater ‘cultural sensitivity’ while promoting ancient languages ​​and cultures. Sanskrit is not just a language but a philosophy which needs to be presented correctly in modern contexts.