Letter to editor. / NIA

Dear Dean Hoekstra,

Thank you for getting back to me on behalf of President Garber. I appreciate the acknowledgment that Hindu traditions carry deep spiritual and cultural significance.

But your response does not seem to come close to meeting the seriousness of the issue.

What occurred was not simply an unfortunate communications lapse to be handled through an internal review of social media processes. It was an extremely offensive and degrading representation of a religious tradition in connection with Sanskrit, a sacred civilizational language for Hindus. To reduce this to a matter of process is to evade the substance of the concern.

Your message is striking less for what it says than for what it avoids saying. It does not directly acknowledge that the imagery was insulting. It does not recognize that many Hindus experienced this not as a minor omission, but as an instance of anti-Hindu disrespect. And it does not explain why Harvard continues to struggle to show Hindus the same clarity, seriousness, and moral courtesy it so readily extends in other contexts.

That is the larger issue.

This incident does not exist in a vacuum. At an elite institution like Harvard, where inclusion, belonging, and diversity are spoken of with great seriousness, the failure to show the same moral clarity when Hindu symbols and traditions are demeaned is especially telling. It reflects a broader pattern in which Hindu traditions are too often met with casual distortion, irrelevance, or selective skepticism. Such treatment would be far less tolerated if directed at other faith communities.

Harvard often speaks in expansive moral language about respect for living communities. Yet when Hindu symbols or traditions are demeaned, the institutional response too often becomes vague, procedural, and evasive. That pattern is becoming difficult to ignore. It creates the unmistakable impression that Hindu concerns are treated as less urgent, less legible, and less worthy of direct acknowledgment.

A university of Harvard’s stature should be capable of saying plainly when a community has been demeaned. It should also be capable of distinguishing between academic freedom and cultural contempt. Academic freedom is essential, but it is not a shield for the careless treatment of religious traditions, nor an excuse for institutional reluctance to acknowledge when such treatment occurs.

Your response also leaves basic questions unanswered:

Does Harvard recognize that this incident reflects more than poor judgment and instead points to a broader problem in how Hindu traditions are treated within elite academic spaces?

Who is conducting this review, and will Hindu voices be consulted in any meaningful way? If so, which Hindu voices?

What concrete standards will govern the future representation of Hindu symbols, Sanskrit, and other living religious traditions in Harvard’s academic and public-facing materials?

Will Harvard acknowledge publicly that the issue here was not merely that offense was taken, but that offense was, in fact, caused?

These are not peripheral questions. They go to whether Harvard is prepared to act on principle or merely manage fallout.

I will be candid. My daughter earned a graduate degree from Harvard, and I have often been inclined to defend institutional independence and academic freedom. But that defense becomes harder when Harvard appears unable to extend even basic moral clarity where Hindu dignity is concerned. A great university should not need pressure to do what is plainly right.

I have not always agreed with recent actions taken by the federal government toward Harvard, and I have often been inclined to defend institutional independence and academic freedom. But incidents like this, coupled with Harvard’s repeated posture of arrogance and selective accountability, including its silence on matters such as anti-Hindu bias, make that defense harder and harder to sustain. When a university appears unwilling to correct itself except under stern external pressure, it should not be surprised when public opinion erodes.

If Harvard wishes to be taken seriously as an institution committed to equal respect, it must do more than apologize, remove an image, and review internal procedures. It must directly acknowledge the nature of the offense, affirm that anti-Hindu disrespect is unacceptable, and articulate standards making clear that Hindu traditions will not be treated as expendable objects of distortion or contempt.

I also understand that “Hinduphobia” is not yet recognized in academic, political, and social circles with the same seriousness afforded to antisemitism or Islamophobia. But the lack of widespread recognition does not mean the phenomenon does not exist. On the contrary, what happened at Harvard is an example of prejudice and hostility toward Hindus and Hinduism. Is Harvard ignoring it simply because it has not yet been named with equal force and seriousness?

Respect for Hinduism should not depend on whether the affected community is seen as influential enough to command institutional urgency. Harvard can and should do better.

Sincerely,

Vijendra

Vijendra Agarwal, Ph.D.

Co-founder and President, Vidya Gyan (EIN #47-2172026) and

Former Professor of Physics and Dean of the College

 

Email from Dean Hoekstra dated March 26, 2026

 

Dear Dr. Agarwal,

 

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding the promotional image used by the Department of South Asian Studies. I recognize that depictions associated with Hindu traditions carry deep spiritual and cultural significance for people all over the world, and I am grateful for your message conveying the concern and disappointment felt by many.

 

My understanding from the Division of Arts and Humanities, the academic unit that oversees this program, is that the department has removed the image, issued a public apology, and is now in the process of reviewing their internal social media processes. As they also clarified, the post was not affiliated with the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, which is a separate entity at Harvard.

 

Moments such as these are also an opportunity for reflection, and we are mindful of the importance of approaching the study and representation of living traditions with care and rigor.

 

Thank you again for writing.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dean Hoekstra

 

 

Hopi Hoekstra

Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences

C. Y. Chan Professor of Arts and Science

Xiaomeng Tong and Yu Chen Professor of Life Sciences