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Time of India
30-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Mittal family says it was not consulted on Harvard's Pakistan conference by Institute they funded
TOI correspondent from Washington: Under attack from Indian activists for purportedly bankrolling a " Pakistan conference " at Harvard University in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack , the Mittal family , whose $25 million donation funds the South Asia Institute (SAI) that platformed the event, clarified on Wednesday that the event was scheduled "without consulting its benefactors." A spokesperson for the family drew attention to a statement from the SAI that it "did not consult any benefactor of the Institute about this conference" and Pakistani students at Harvard, along with their faculty advisor, "independently determined the topics and speakers presenting." "The Institute also supports the annual student-run India Conference at Harvard, which this year was held on February 15-16. In the case of the India Conference also, we do not consult any benefactors; the student organizers, along with their advisors, independently determine the topics and speakers," the statement by the Institute, funded by the Mittal Family Foundation, said. "Please know that we share the grief and anguish with our friends, colleagues, and loved ones in India who have been affected by the attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, and we offer our heartfelt condolences," it added. Both the institute and its benefactor, Indian steel magnate Laxmi Mittal , whose family foundation's $ 25 million gift established the SAI in 2017, are being pilloried on social media and by Indian students at Harvard for being "tone deaf" in hosting such a conference against the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack. While the Institute says its mission is to foster academic dialogue across South Asia, including Pakistan, through interdisciplinary research on topics like economics and governance, Indian supporters say it was a particularly insensitive time to host such a conference and platform Pakistani officials and delegates. Pakistan's finance minister Mohammed Aurangazeb and the country's ambassador to the US were among those who spoke at the conference. "At a time when the Indian government is leaving no stone unturned to pressurise the Pakistan government to relinquish its support for terror, Lakshmi Mittal's sponsorship of the 'Pakistan Conference at Harvard 2025' is not only tone-deaf, but it reflects a deep sense of betrayal by the Indian steel magnate towards the innocent Indian tourists who lost their lives in Pahalgam at the hands of Pakistan-trained terrorists," one commentator wrote. Pakistani delegates however contested the claim that the Mittal family sponsored the event, saying it was funded by National Foods, a Pakistani food products company, whose CEO Abrar Hassan also spoke at the conference. Along with National Foods, the conference website lists "The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute" as one of the "partners" to the conference. As part of its interdisciplinary, cross-country dialogue, the Institute is currently hosting Naiza Khan, an acclaimed visual artist from Pakistan, as its second Distinguished Artist Fellow. 'It will be an extraordinary honor to have such an accomplished artist with us at the Mittal Institute. It will provide a wonderful opportunity for students and faculty alike to interact and engage with one of the most celebrated artists working in South Asia today,' Hitesh Hathi, Executive Director of the Mittal Institute, said in an announcement about the fellowship that began this month. Some activists are now pressing for an end to such "freebies" for Pakistan while excluding other countries like Sri Lanka and Nepal, and for the center to be renamed after India. "South Asia" is a familiar bugaboo for India partisans who have long had an issue with what they say is an artificial geographic construct that dilutes India's equity.
Time of India
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Harvard under fire for hosting Pakistan conference after Pahalgam terror attack
TOI correspondent from Washington : Harvard University's South Asia Institute, bankrolled by Indian billionaire Laxmi Mittal , distanced itself from a "Pakistan conference" it platformed on Sunday after a backlash from some Indian students, even as Pakistan, embarrassed over having to use an Indian-funded facility, vowed to regain its diminishing footprint in US academia . Controversy over the one-day conference erupted after two Indian students, Surabhi Tomar and Abhishek Chaudhuri, in a letter to the university management, urged Harvard to "ensure its campus does not become a platform for whitewashing state-enabled religious terrorism " in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 people. 'Welcoming representatives of a government that enables or justifies terrorism risks Harvard being complicit. The United States must not host representatives of a state that protects and promotes organisations targeting civilians based on faith,' the students said in a separate letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Pakistan's finance minister Muhammed Aurangazeb and its ambassador to US Rizwan Shaeed Sheikh were among the delegates to the conference. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This All-Natural Oil Is Helping Men Combat ED Without Side Effects Boost Your Potency Naturally Undo Among other demands, the students urged the Harvard management to issue a public statement condemning the Pahalgam attack and provide emotional and institutional support to affected students, seeking, "clarity, courage, and compassion for Hindu and Indian students grieving the targeted killing of members of their faith." An administrator at the South Asia Institute told TOI that the conference was organized by Pakistani students and the institute did not host it beyond providing "some support." However, the Institute's executive director, Hitesh Hathi, took part in a discussion with Pakistani historian Ayesha Jalal on "The Enlightened Muslim: Examining the intersection of religion, modernity, and state formation in Pakistan." The Institute later scrubbed the conference and the panel discussion from its website, a link showing the message, " The page you requested could not be found." While some Indian students expressed anger at Harvard and SAI platforming the event, others mocked the Pakistani effort, ridiculing a country that is so broke that it required an Indian billionaire to platform its conference. Although organized by Pakistani students at Harvard, the conference, according to some attendees, was also ostensibly aimed at rejuvenating the country's diminishing footprint in US academia. Among others, Hamid Mir, a prominent Pakistani journalist who was a delegate at the conference and also reported on it, repeatedly invoked the Indian clout in US academia, leading Pakistan's ambassador to the US to pledge that Islamabad would work to restore several Pakistan chairs that were defunct, including the Quaid e Azam chair at Columbia University. According to Open Doors, which tracks foreign student inflow into the US. Pakistan currently has 10,988 students enrolled in American higher education institutions, compared to 331,602 students from India, the highest among all countries, followed by China at 277,398. Even Bangladesh (17,099) and Nepal (16,742) have more students in the US than Pakistan, whose international reputation has suffered on account of hosting terrorist groups and purported use terrorism as a policy instrument.
