A recent conference on Pakistan held at Harvard University's South Asia Institute has triggered backlash from Indian students, as it took place just days after the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir.

The event, which included high-profile speakers such as Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the country’s Ambassador to the US, Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, was reportedly organized by Pakistani students and held under the umbrella of an institute funded by the Lakshmi Mittal family.

Amid mounting criticism, Harvard has quietly removed the event details from its website, signaling an effort to distance itself from the growing controversy.

The April 22 attack in Pahalgam was initially claimed by The Resistance Front, believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Although the group later retracted its claim, the attack sparked outrage, particularly among Indian students studying abroad.

Two Indian students at Harvard, Surabhi Tomar and Abhishek Chaudhuri, wrote letters condemning the university’s decision to host Pakistani government officials so soon after the incident. They addressed their concerns not only to Harvard’s leadership but also to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In their letters, they expressed frustration that the university had given space to representatives of a state accused of enabling terrorism. “By hosting such individuals, Harvard risks appearing complicit in justifying or normalizing terrorism,” the students argued. They also called for Harvard to issue a public condemnation of the Pahalgam killings.

Their message to Secretary Rubio was equally pointed: “The United States must not offer platforms to states that support groups attacking civilians based on religion.”

Although Harvard has not issued a formal response, several references to the April conference—held under the theme “The Enlightened Muslim”—have been scrubbed from the South Asia Institute’s website. Among those sessions was a discussion featuring Hitesh Hathi, the institute’s Executive Director, and Pakistani-American historian Ayesha Jalal.

While the university has not publicly addressed the content removal, sources suggest that the decision to erase digital traces of the event reflects an attempt to sidestep the fallout.

Harvard’s official stance remains unclear, but the incident has ignited a broader debate on academic neutrality, free speech, and the ethical responsibilities of elite institutions when dealing with geopolitically sensitive matters.