A video of an IPS officer from India studying at Harvard University explaining how Indians are treated at Harvard is getting shared widely on the internet. The video is from the book launch event of “The Snakes in the Ganga” by author Rajiv Malhotra. The event was organised at the Federation of Indian Association, Baston.
The officer is a civil servant and went to Harvard for a one-year course and can be seen saying, “All that has been written in the book or said by Malhotra at the event resembles my life. There are three stages at the selection stage those who write against India they are given priority. Half of the people from the private sector, from the NGO sector who have come to Harvard, have written against India in their thesis”.
“Anybody who gets a scholarship has to be ‘Anti-Indian’. Unless you write that you have a wretched life in India you are not going to get the scholarship,” he added.
Later he said, “In the classroom if you speak in favour of India, you are not given that much space. Nobody stops you from speaking in favour of India but if you speak against India you get more space, you are applauded and those who speak in favour of India, are not cancelled but certainly, they feel out of place in those spaces”.
And lastly, “It is essentially a design. I was speaking to some of my friends in the US government. If they talk about caste, caste has been recognised as one of the discriminations by Harvard University. They have no business to do with it but some Indians studying there got it included. In the coming years or say next 50 years, caste will be used as India’s assessment by the state department as they are doing with religion as of now”.
“This is the gradual progression, first talk in Universities, take it to think tanks, take it to Congress–Senate and later get it accepted to the government level. Maybe 20 years from now the US government will ask about caste issues from the Indian government. This is not the fault of Harvard, the Indians who come here, including civil servants as two three of them are speaking the same language,” he said.
“My father was proud of me as I came to Harvard. And when I came to this book launch even he said, you should cry that you went to a wrong place”, this is the reputation of Harvrad in India, he said.
Watch the video here:
Notably, this statement of the IPS officer came at a time when a Hindu boy, Karan Kataria faced discrimination for his identity at the London School of Economics (LSE). Kataria faced disqualification from contesting university elections because he comes from the ‘Hindu’ community.
On April 2, from his official Twitter account, Karan wrote, “I have faced personal, vicious, and targeted attacks due to the anti-India rhetoric and Hinduphobia. I demand that the @lsesu is transparent about its reasoning. I will not be a SILENT victim of Hinduphobia.”
I have faced personal, vicious, and targeted attacks due to the anti-India rhetoric and Hinduphobia. I demand that the @lsesu is transparent about its reasoning.
I will not be a SILENT victim of Hinduphobia.
@LSEnews @HCI_London @BobBlackman pic.twitter.com/65LKaFAI7J— Karan Kataria (@karanatLSE) April 2, 2023
“Despite receiving immense support from students of all nationalities, I was disqualified from the General Secretary election of the LSE Student Union. The allegations against me ranged from being homophobic, Islamophobic, queerphobic, and Hindu Nationalist,” he said.
Furthermore, he told, “Following it, multiple complaints were lodged against me. Many false accusations were made to discredit my image and character when, to the contrary, I have always advocated for positive change and social harmony.”
Recently, Karan spoke with the Organiser, watch the interview here:
