From: Arvind Kumar
Date: Sun, Jan 1, 2012 at 10:13 AM
Subject: Harvard imposes halal-certified free speech code
To: http://www.faithfreedom.org/articles/op-ed/harvard-imposes-halal-certified-free-speech-code/
Harvard imposes halal-certified free speech code
12/31/2011
Harvard imposes halal-certified free speech code
Arvind Kumar
An article in Daily News and Analysis, an Indian newspaper, by India’s former Commerce Minister Subramanian Swamy has now snowballed into a major controversy related to the suppression of the freedom of expression. In response to the article which dealt with wiping out Islamic terror, Harvard University’s faculty has acted like a lynch-mob and voted to cancel two of Swamy’s courses in Economics leading to outrage among free speech advocates around the world.
The ban on Swamy by Harvard for violating its blasphemy code is similar to the behavior of enraged Mullahs who punish others for speaking out against their beliefs. In fact, Harvard’s action came after Muslim groups demanded that the university retaliate against Swamy despite the article focusing on dealing with Islamic terror and having no connection to Harvard. With this action, Harvard has taken a huge step closer to becoming a Shariah-compliant university. Had Voltaire been alive today, it is certain that Harvard would not have tolerated him for writing the play Mahomet.
This is not the first time that opposition to freedom of expression has come out of Harvard’s stables. A few months back, Harvard University Press published a book entitled ‘The Offensive Internet’ co-authored by radical leftist extremist Martha Nussbaum. A recurring theme in the book focuses on hurt “feelings” and uses terms such as “nightmare” and “fraught with peril” to describe the internet. The book laments that it is cheap to express an opinion and wants controls on the internet because posts on the web can hurt one’s “feelings” and “make someone cry.”
Harvard’s jihad against free speech strikes at the core of American values of free speech and liberty. Free speech should not be subject either to a peer reviewed process to approve or disapprove statements or to a halal-certified free speech code. Harvard’s arbitrary and reprehensible action subjects opinions to both of these and should be condemned in the strongest terms. By canceling Swamy’s courses, Harvard’s faculty has demonstrated that it does not think through issues or debate ideas in an intelligent manner. Instead, they have chosen to abuse its power and muzzle the freedom of expression. In countries where law enforcement is weak, it is people with this mindset who send out hordes of throat cutters and homicide bombers to kill people whose statements are not in line with their own.
There can be no excuse for curbing the rights of Swamy as Harvard has defended the rights of others in the past. A few years ago, an article by Harvard’s Alan Dershowitz in the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post called for a much stronger response to Islamic terror than Swamy’s suggestions and advocated evacuating and destroying Palestinian villages as retaliatory measures against terror attacks on Israel. That article led to an outcry against Dershowitz, but Harvard held fort and defended his right to free speech.
In another case, UK-based lecturer Tom Paulin generated a controversy by stating in an interview to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly that all Brooklyn-born Jews who had moved to Israel should be shot dead. Despite the shocking and open call for the genocide of Jews by Paulin, Harvard expressed its support for him and renewed its invitation as his statement was within the parameters of Harvard’s halal-speech standards.
Swamy is not new to controversies related to free speech. He built his reputation fighting for the freedom of expression in India during the years when the ruling Nehru family suspended free speech rights and arrested political opponents by invoking Emergency powers. His disappearance to evade arrest along with his dramatic reappearance and brief statement a few days later at the Indian Parliament is the stuff legends are made of and this legacy is sure to live on for hundreds of years. The public outcry in his support may now be the catalyst for strengthening the right to free speech in universities across the United States.
Harvard’s faculty members do not understand that the right to free speech includes the right to offend others no matter what their religion. No one, not even Muslims, should be a legally protected class from being offended on account of their religion. With this jihad against free speech, Harvard has become a persecutor of free people and joins despots like Ayatollah Khomeini, Papa Doc, Mullah Omar, Franklin Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and a long list of others who oppressed their political opponents for expressing their views.
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