Harvard is turning into the global headquarters/capital of woke culture, with wokeism being fed in liberal doses to its students. They are not only breeding wokeism but also exporting it, thereby affecting native cultures across the globe.

Harvard students retract support to Hamas

On 11 October, Harvard students who had previously issued a letter in support of Palestine in the aftermath of a terror attack conducted by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas against Israeli civilians began to retract their condemnation of Israel. This apparent “change of heart” seemed to be a response to global criticism and the stance taken by corporate leaders, particularly from the Jewish community, who declared their intention not to hire individuals who had expressed support for the barbaric actions of Hamas.

Danielle Mikaelian, a former board member of the Harvard student group which had signed the letter, resigned from her position. In a thread on social media platform X, she stated that she was not aware of the statement signed by the student body, and resigned from her role as soon as she became aware of the matter.

‘The statement is not representative of my values,’ Danielle added.

The Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association, a Nepalese student organization, also reconsidered its position on the matter. In an Instagram post, they expressed their regret, saying, “We deeply regret that our joint endorsement of the recent PSC statement, intended to shed light on historical injustices against Palestinians and a sincere desire for peace, has been misconstrued as implicit support for the recent acts of violence in Israel.”

Furthermore, they clarified, “In order to maintain our unequivocal condemnation of violence by Hamas and our support for a just and peaceful resolution, we are withdrawing our endorsement from the statement. With this message, we aim to convey our love, support, and solidarity to communities worldwide, including our own, as we all grapple with the loss of those who have tragically left us too soon.”

It’s worth highlighting that the statement and retraction come as they faced a backlash following the death of a number of Nepali citizens in the Hamas terror attack in Southern Israel.

The Harvard Undergraduate Ghungroo organization issued an apology and withdrew their support for the statement co-signed with The Harvard Palestinian Committee. They clarified their stance, expressing solidarity with both Israeli and Palestinian victims and their families. The group strongly condemned the acts of violence carried out by the terrorist organization Hamas and apologized for the insensitivity of the previously released statement.

Several eminent people associated with Harvard expressed ‘disappointment’ with the manner in which student organizations have sympathized with Hamas terrorists while blaming Israel completely for the violence. Lawrence Summers, who is President Emeritus at Harvard, was among those who criticized the institution for not being proactive, unlike it has been in other cases like the Ukraine-Russia war.

Students who blamed Israel for the violence earned the ire of the corporate world. A group of CEOs and business executives, led by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, have announced their decision to not hire Harvard students who signed a statement issued by the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee. The statement attributed sole responsibility for recent Hamas terror attacks on Israel to the Israeli government. Ackman urged Harvard to release the names of all student organizations’ members who endorsed the statement to prevent inadvertently hiring them.

Several CEOs endorsed Ackman’s call. Jonathan Neman, CEO of Sweetgreen, expressed his desire to avoid hiring these individuals, and Jake Wurzak, CEO of DoveHill Capital Management, supported the idea. David Duel, CEO of EasyHealth, and Michael Broukhim, CEO of FabFitFun, also backed the initiative.

The statement, which was signed by 33 student organizations, held the Israeli regime accountable for the ongoing violence and asserted that millions of Palestinians in Gaza were subjected to living in an ‘open-air prison.’ It called on Harvard to take action to halt what it described as the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.

The backdrop for this controversy is the recent Hamas attacks on Israel, resulting in significant casualties, including women and babies. This has triggered a strong reaction from some business leaders who want to distance themselves from students who supported the statement assigning blame to Israel for the attacks.

Harvard – the global capital of woke culture

Shri Rajiv Malhotra terms Harvard as the ‘Vishwa guru’ of wokeism. His book Snakes in the Ganga: Breaking India 2.0, co-authored with Vijaya Viswanathan, says that The East India Company has returned to a new incarnation unbeknownst to many.

Harvard University is shown to be at the helm in this new effort to recolonize Bharat, taking the place of Oxford. In the days of the British Raj, discourse about Bharat was controlled by Oxford University. Now it’s the Americans that have taken over this recolonization project, headed by its institutions led by Harvard. The speed and scale of these efforts are also inherently American. The book uncovers the vast ecosystem and funding network created by Harvard.

What is dramatically new about this syndrome is that the Bharatiyas themselves are funding it. Moreover, these ideas have entered Bharatiya government organizations and businesses. The book shows that Bharatiya billionaires are getting this work done. They are bringing Bharatiya scholars and Bharatiya students to conferences and seminars and giving them grants and funding to brainwash them and teach them all these theories to dismantle the fundamental structures of Bharat.

The passage discusses how Critical Race Theory (CRT), rooted in Marxism, is being applied to Bharatiya society as Critical Caste Theory and Wokeism. The authors highlighted that CRT, which focuses on race issues in the United States, is adapted to Bharat, where it centers on caste dynamics. The application of this theory suggests that institutionalized ‘casteism’ is responsible for disparities in various fields, leading to calls for the dismantling of Hindu Dharma and structures based on it.

A critical aspect of the passage is the critique of Bharatiya meritocracy, with the authors arguing that Critical Caste Theory questions and undermines the concept. They assert that meritocracy is considered a product of Brahmanical patriarchy, leading to unequal outcomes for certain groups. Harvard scholars are accused of overlooking factors such as hard work and individual talent and, as a result, directly attacking institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

The passage also spotlights Harvard’s role, depicting the institution as a major influencer in Indian academia and knowledge production. Harvard is seen as promoting Western theories, including CRT, in India, establishing new institutions, and infiltrating existing ones. This is framed as an effort to shape the thinking of the younger generation of Bharatiyas by importing Western social science models.

Wokeism targets Hindu Dharma

The woke vocabulary is intended to mislead, make dangerously extreme ideas sound cool, and conceal their true meaning through ambiguity. Take, for instance, the phrase ‘anti-racist.’ It means ‘the one who is opposed to racism,’ right? Wrong! In woke jargon, an anti-racist is one who accepts that our society is thoroughly racist and that the remedy is to embrace sweeping new forms of racial discrimination. In other words, a woke anti-racist is the one who actually supports racism and discrimination against people based on the color of their skin. 

CoHNA (Coalition of Hindus of North America) General Secretary Shobha Swamy explained how wokeism is targeting and breaking families. Shobha further notes that Equality Labs promotes the oppressor-oppressed model of viewing life and that, along with the training it provides, makes a person doubt themselves at every step. She states that it makes people view everything through this (woke) lens and not through the lens of Dharma.

“This is not why our countries went to war with a fascist group like the Nazis. And yet here we are with a new liberal form of fascism, where you either sign up for a fake narrative, you either believe something that is untrue, or you have to be destroyed. Isn’t that what fascism is? Isn’t that the purest personification of fascism? It’s exactly the same thing that they profess to detest most. If you ask anyone who is really woke, they hate fascists, and yet they behave exactly the same way”, says Piers Morgan.

The worst facet of wokeism is how those who express views that do not adhere to a single ideological lens are silenced. Conformity is rigidly enforced through state institutions, professional bodies, and social pressure. Without the support of the brutishly foaming Left media, wokeism might remain a rabid dog with no teeth. Hence, the wokes are known to pedal down their cancel-drivel from time to time and even make peace with the duplicitous Islamist media outlets. It would have been funny if it was not so tragic.

The missionary efforts to annihilate the traditional knowledge systems of Bharat have been revived under the framework of woke ideologies, which incorrectly suggest that every Hindu is inherently racist and that the current societal structures are inherently privileged and deeply racist. This has led to suggestions of dismantling various aspects of Hinduism, which has endured and flourished for thousands of years. Consequently, we’re witnessing an increasing number of calls to alter or eradicate Sanatana Dharma, which originates from the very land that gave birth to the ancient Sanatana civilization.

The template is simple: blame Hinduism for everything wrong in Bharat today. Is your city polluted? Blame the Hindus for Diwali and firecrackers. Water scarcity? Blame Hindus for Holi. Violence against women? Target Navratri, Durga Pooja, and other Devi festivals. Looking for racial harmony? Ban Hindu yatras and processions. The list goes on and on.

Wokeism is a Western concept that has been imported and imposed lock, stock, and barrel on Bharatiya society and culture. It is difficult to keep diseases away, but once we build immunity, then it becomes easier to fight them. Similarly, it is difficult to keep external influences away, but we can strengthen ourselves internally by rooting ourselves in Dharma. Rooting the younger generation in Dharma is the best weapon to fight Wokeism.

Correction

18:00 IST, 18 Nov

An earlier version of this article stated that Danielle Mikaelian had apologised for her decision to sign the letter without seeing it. Denying this, Danielle sent us an email stating  “I never agreed to sign the letter or was consulted in the decision. My signature and name were not on the document. I have proof that I refused to sign on for another organization days before the backlash started and thus have not had a change of heart.”

Upon review of the earlier phrasing of our article and Danielle’s posts on X, we have corrected the article. The inadvertent error is regretted.