The India They Imagine At Harvard: When A Film Star Headlines And A Former Air Chief Shares a Panel

The Harvard India Conference 2026, scheduled for February 14–15 at Harvard University, carries the ambitious theme “The India We Imagine.” Apparently organized by students themselves, the 23rd edition promises over 1,000 attendees, 30+ panels, and 75+ speakers spanning business, policy, culture, sports, technology, and more. It positions itself as a premier forum to explore India’s rise, complexities, and global possibilities.

Yet, beneath the polished branding and diverse lineup lies a subtle — but increasingly noticeable — hierarchy in how contributions to India’s story are platformed. While the conference proudly features genuine national icons and builders, the spotlight often tilts toward global celebrity, plain bling appeal or certain narrative voices, leaving some of India’s most accomplished figures in supporting rather than starring roles.

A Tale of Two Stages

Consider Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The actor-producer is prominently featured across official announcements — frequently described in media coverage as headlining the event or delivering a major cultural session. Sure, her presence draws international attention, bolsters attendance, and aligns with the conference’s aim to showcase India’s soft power and creative industries.

But contrast this with Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria (Retd), former Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. One of the most respected leaders in India’s national security establishment, he brings decades of strategic insight into air power, defence modernisation, self-reliance (Atmanirbharata), and lessons from contemporary conflicts. He is scheduled to appear on a panel titled “At the Frontier of Possibility: Deep Technology” along with three other people.

At a time when India’s military doctrine, modernisation, and domestic capability is generating unprecedented interest, Harvard only thought it appropriate to put the former chief of its air force into a panel with three other people, rather than provide him a standalone keynote or fireside chat.

The pattern is clear. Celebrity and cultural-diplomacy figures often receive solo high-visibility slots that command prime audience attention and media amplification. Meanwhile, individuals who have directly shaped India’s hard power, technological sovereignty, or institutional resilience are placed in multi-speaker panels — one voice among four. 

And equating with whom?

With Air Marshal Bhadauria not getting a standalone event, his standing is being equated, by implication, with ideologues, corporate leaders and artists like Shazia Iqbal, Thenmozhi Soundarajan, Shashi Buluswar, and Mahima Kaul. Each of these four are also speaking as part of a panel at the Harvard India Conference 2026. 

Shazia Iqbal: Iqbal is a Hindi film-maker, with Dhadak 2 her debut movie. The film is meant to portray casteism in India. Shazia has criticised the film industry’s alleged ‘lack of support for socially relevant cinema’. Recently, she also faced online backlash after voicing her disapproval of Dhurandhar, calling it sinister, without explicitly naming the movie.

Thenmozhi Soundarajan: She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Equality Labs. This organisation is said to be amongst the major forces behind attempts to introduce caste discourse in American legislation. Soundarajan has given talks on caste at the offices of multiple large MNCs. In 2022, her scheduled talk to Google News employees for ‘Dalit History Month’ was cancelled after Google employees emailed company leaders calling her “Hindu-phobic” and “anti-Hindu”. 20 3. In her book, The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition, she tied Dalit oppression to fights for liberation among Black and Indigenous communities. Moreover, in 2023, she was seen sharing a stage with Gurpatwant Pannu. Observers have suggested deeper links between Khalistani groups and Soundarajan. 

Shashi Buluswar: Dr. Shashi Buluswar is a scientist and the CEO of the Institute for Transformative Technologies. He was a co-editor of the book, Conflicted Democracies and Gendered Violence: The Right to Heal: Internal Conflict and Social Upheaval in India alongside Angana P Chatterji. Chatterji is one of the vocal opponents of the Indian Government’s counterinsurgency efforts in Kashmir and is known to be a close associate of ISI operative Ghulam Nabi Fai.

Mahima Kaul: Kaul is currently the Director of Public Policy for Netflix India. Earlier, she served as the Head of Public Policy and Government Partnerships and later Director of Public Policy for Twitter in India and South Asia. She resigned in 2021 from Twitter in early 2021. It was speculated that she left after the NDA Government warned Twitter (now X) to not restore the accounts that used potentially volatile hashtags like “#ModiPlanningFarmerGenocide”.

What This Signals

What this suggests is that even as India moves to give its people a better quality of life and is counted as an important and independent voice in global fora, Harvard is unable or even perhaps unwilling to look at India beyond stereotypes. At best, their acknowledgement of India goes only as far as Bollywood. This year the keynote is being delivered by Priyanka Chopra. A couple of years ago it was Karisma Kapoor. 

The point is not that Harvard should deny space to entertainment, diaspora storytelling, or creative industries; those voices matter. The issue is proportionality and symbolism.

When a former Air Chief Marshal — who led the IAF through transformative modernization and served during a kinetic conflict — shares a 60–75 minute panel slot with three others, while global entertainment stars anchor larger, unshared moments, it quietly communicates priorities. When a former Air Chief Marshal shares a panel and other detractors of the ‘India story’ too share a panel in the same event, it implicitly conveys what the organisers themselves think of the India story. 

It suggests that at one of the world’s most prestigious academic platforms, India’s narrative is still shaped more by glamour and stereotypes than by the gritty, high-stakes contributions of those who have secured the nation’s skies, medals, or technological frontiers.

This arrangement risks reinforcing an older pattern: India is enthusiastically embraced as a market, a cultural brand, and a source of soft-power talent, yet the deeper strategic, civilizational, and security dimensions of its rise receive secondary treatment.

A Call for Rebalancing

Speakers of the stature of Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria are not merely panelists — they embody categories of achievement that deserve equivalent prestige.

While the Air Marshal has accepted the invitation in good faith, he would be entirely within his rights to approach the organizers and ask for a dedicated keynote, fireside chat, or spotlight session that allows his perspective to stand alone and receive the undivided attention it merits. 

India’s future deserves all its voices — from red carpets to radar screens, from corporate offices to sports fields. At Harvard, the platform should reflect that parity.