|
Hate
Speech fallout, Swamy removed from Harvard teaching roster
Thursday December 08, 2011 12:03:00 PM,
IANS
|
|
Washington: Harvard
University has cancelled Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy's
summer courses over his controversial article in a Mumbai
newspaper advocating destruction of hundreds of Indian mosques and
disenfranchisement of non-Hindus in India.
After a heated debate, a meeting of the Faculty of Arts and
Sciences Tuesday voted to remove two Summer School courses -
Economics S-110 and Economics S-1316 - taught by Swamy, according
to The Harvard Crimson, the campus newspaper.
Swamy received significant criticism for his op-ed last summer in
Daily News and Analysis calling for the destruction of mosques,
the disenfranchisement of non-Hindus in India who do not
acknowledge Hindu ancestry, and a ban on conversion from Hinduism,
it said.
"Swamy's op-ed clearly crosses the line by demonising an entire
religious community and calling for violence against their sacred
places," Comparative Religion Professor Diana L. Eck was quoted as
saying.
Harvard has a moral responsibility not to affiliate itself with
anyone who expresses hatred towards a minority group, she said.
"There is a distinction between unpopular and unwelcome political
views."
Although Harvard chose to stand by Swamy in August in an effort to
affirm its declared commitment to free speech, faculty members
shot down his two courses, effectively removing him from Harvard's
teaching roster, the campus paper said.
Many faculty determined Swamy's article was not a product of free
speech-but of hate speech.
"[Swamy's position on disenfranchisement] is like saying Jewish
Americans and African Americans should not be allowed to vote
unless they acknowledge the supremacy of white Anglo Saxon
Protestants," said History professor Sugata Bose.
Dean of the Summer School Donald H. Pfister explained that courses
included in the Harvard catalogue are chosen by individual
departments.
|
|
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
 Peace in parliament
after FDI put on back burner, India Inc disappointed
Thirteen days after what was seen as a
major reformist move, the government Wednesday was forced to
suspend its decision on foreign investment in retail following
opposition »
No loss of face in decision to pause FDI in
retail: Congress
Parliament logjam over FDI ends after all-party meet |
|
|
|
Most Read |
|
Pak Pres
Zardari suffers heart attack, may quit: Report
Pakistan
President Asif Ali Zardari, who abruptly left the Pakistan capital
for Dubai, has suffered a minor heart attack
»
'Zardari
left though army doctors said he was fine'
|
|
Rs.7 million released for Muslim youths wrongly held
Perhaps in
the first instance of victims of police torture in a terror case
being paid compensation in India, Andhra Pradesh has released Rs.7
million for innocent Muslim youths arrested and tortured in the
2007 Mecca Masjid blast case.
A day after Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar » |
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 Bhopal Gas survivors charge police of
triggering violence, parading injured women
The survivors have blamed the police of unleashing
brutality on them in the shape of cane-charging, lobbing of
teargas »
|
|
Arabic pamphlet in Britain-Goa flight triggers
alarm
A pamphlet published in Arabic found Tuesday in a chartered plane
which flew from Manchester airport in Britain to Goa has triggered
a security alarm here.
The alert comes less than two weeks before Prime Minister Mamohan
» |
|
Detentions of Muslim youth begin afresh; kin call Khurshid for
intervention
As the indiscriminate arrests of
Muslim youth in the name of fighting terrorism begin afresh after
a gap of two years, the kin accusing the police of violating
Supreme Court
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
The Prime
Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Emeritus Senior Minister,
Mr. Goh Chok Tong, unveiled the bust and the Marker of Pt.
Jawaharlal Nehru, at Asian Civilizations Museum, in Singapore
on November 20, 2011.
(Photo: M.
Asokan ) |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links