Category : Pakistan

Faith or Expertise? Adil Ahsan, a Public Policy Ph.D Candidate, on Who Delivers Public Health Messages Best

Mar 3, 2026 | Announcements, News, Pakistan, Students

Adil Ahsan, a Ph.D candidate in Public Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, spent his summer in Lahore, Pakistan through a Mittal Institute student grant. His study examined whether handwashing messages delivered by religious leaders are more effective than those from secular authorities, in order to evaluate the extent to which low trust in state institutions can blunt informational interventions among religious populations. We spoke with Adil for more on his project.

Fatima Fayyaz, Syed Babar Ali Fellow, Traces Āshūrā Poetry Across South Asia and Iran

Feb 2, 2026 | Announcements, Fellows, News, Pakistan

The Mittal Institute is pleased to welcome Fatima Fayyaz, who joins us this spring semester as the Syed Babar Ali Fellow. Fatima is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Creative Arts at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). Her research focuses on Persian mystical and epic literature across Iran and the broader Persianate world, including Central Asia, Afghanistan, and South Asia. During her fellowship at the Mittal Institute, Fatima will undertake a comparative study of āshūrā poetry in Urdu and Persian, tracing its development from the 16th century onward in South Asia and Iran. We spoke with Fatima to learn more about her research and the focus of her fellowship.

The Mittal Institute Presents the 2024–25 Year in Review and Arts Program Reports

Aug 20, 2025 | Afghanistan, Announcements, Arts Program, Associates, Bangladesh, Faculty, Fellows, In Region, India, Myanmar, Nepal, News, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Students

The Mittal Institute is excited to announce the release of the 2023–24 Year in Review and 2023–24 Arts Program reports. Like every year, the comprehensive Year in Review Report includes updates on all major faculty-led programs, lists awards and fellowships, highlights the work of students, student organizations, and scholars, and summarizes events and other achievements. The Arts Program Report highlights the incredible impact and accomplishments of the Mittal Institute’s various arts initiatives, which include fellowships, exhibitions, and events. Both reports offer valuable insights into the institute’s mission of connecting Harvard with South Asia.

Media, Climate, and Arts: A Recap of the Mittal Institute Annual Symposium

Apr 24, 2025 | Bangladesh, Climate, Community, Faculty, India, News, Pakistan

On April 17–18, the Mittal Institute held its Annual Symposium at the Barker Center on the Harvard campus to a standing-room-only crowd of faculty, fellows, students, and friends of the Mittal Institute. Read a recap of the Friday program, where renowned journalists, scholars, and Distinguished Artist Fellow Naiza Khan engaged in lively discussion and debate on media, climate, and arts in South Asia.

Land, Body, Memory: A Public Lecture by Distinguished Artist Fellow Naiza Khan

Apr 24, 2025 | Arts Program, In Region, News, Pakistan

Last week, the Mittal Institute was honored to host Naiza Khan, a renowned artist from Pakistan, as the Institute’s second Distinguished Artist Fellow. In a lecture on campus on April 14—co-hosted by the MFA Boston—Khan presented her powerful work that weaves together themes of land, body, and memory through drawing, sculpture, archival material, and film.

Welcoming Naiza Khan, Mittal Institute Distinguished Artist Fellow

Mar 26, 2025 | Arts Program, In Region, News, Pakistan

The Mittal Institute is delighted to welcome our newest Distinguished Artist Fellow, Naiza Khan, for a week-long residency on Harvard’s campus this April. A visual artist with a multidisciplinary practice spanning drawing, sculpture, archival material, and film, Khan explores themes of land, body, and memory.Her work engages deeply with museum collections and the circulation of objects linked to migration across the Indian Ocean, offering a critical lens on contemporary issues.

The Mittal Institute Presents the 2023–24 Year in Review and Arts Program Reports

Dec 3, 2024 | Afghanistan, Announcements, Arts Program, Associates, Bangladesh, Faculty, Fellows, In Region, India, Myanmar, Nepal, News, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Students

Three Harvard Law School Students Receive Internships with a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan

Nov 12, 2024 | Announcements, News, Pakistan, Students

This winter, three Harvard Law School students will be the inaugural cohort of interns with a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, based in Islamabad, Pakistan, through a new program facilitated by the Mittal Institute called the HLS J-Term Clinical Internship. Through this internship, students will get an opportunity to attend the court proceedings at the Supreme Court, prepare bench memorandums, conduct legal research, draft opinions, assist the Honorable Justice on complex cross-cutting legal issues, and contribute to the overall functioning of the Chambers.

The 1970 Bhola Cyclone and the Birth of Bangladesh

Nov 5, 2024 | Announcements, Bangladesh, Climate, Faculty, News, Pakistan

In 1970, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was hit by a cyclone that killed 300,000 to 500,000 people. Prof. Mushfiq Mobarak, Yale University, and Prof. Sultan Mehmood, New Economic School of Moscow, provide empirical evidence that the cyclone’s devastation and the Pakistani government’s “callous response” to it were instrumental in galvanizing support for an independence movement. The two authors share their work in this Q+A ahead of a November 15 Joint Seminar on South Asian Politics.

Storykit Program Inspires Academic Excellence in Pakistan Schools

May 8, 2024 | Alumni, Announcements, In Region, News, Pakistan

Reading is paramount, explains Musharraf Ali Farooqi, a former Mittal Institute Fellow, saying, “Becoming a reader is the first step on the path to becoming a self-learner.” A novelist, scholar, and translator, Musharraf is also the founder of the STORYKIT Program, a unique program that inspires a love of reading among Pakistan’s children. STORYKIT boxes teach children the Urdu language, its classical literature, and its folklore through engaging, age-appropriate stories.

In 2023, Storykit launched the Pakistan Spelling Bee, holding competitions for both English and Urdu languages nationwide. Farooqi is leading a Malala Fund supported program to help adolescent female students in Pakistan public schools write about their educational journey. Storykit is also carrying out an internet safety, media literacy and climate resilience campaign for Google Foundation.

Pakistan, Through Their Eyes

Mar 27, 2024 | Announcements, In Region, News, Pakistan, Students

This spring break, 27 Harvard students joined a trek to Pakistan, representing the Harvard Kennedy School, the Harvard Business School, the Nieman Foundation, and Harvard College. Designed to immerse the student delegation in Pakistan’s culture, history, politics, and development trajectory, this trip was organized by some of the Pakistani student groups on campus.

Hafsa Ahmad LLM ’24 on How Food Waste Violates Human Rights in Pakistan

Mar 26, 2024 | Alumni, Announcements, In Region, News, Pakistan

In 2019, the Lahore High Court in Pakistan declared that the government has a duty to ensure excess food is not wasted, and any food waste violates a Constitutional “right to life.” This seminal case found that the government must ensure excess food makes it to those...