Swamy on Harvard row: 'It is a dangerous principle'

Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Thursday said Harvard University should take a re-look at its decision to remove courses taught by him, while maintaining that it should have sought his comments before reaching a conclusion.

In his reaction to the University's decision to remove courses taught by him, terming as "reprehensible" his views in a controversial piece he wrote on Islamic terrorism, Swamy said the University should have first sought his comment as that is a normal procedure and it had not been done.

"The article was written for a Mumbai [ Images ] newspaper and I teach economics in Harvard. I would assume that they would have sent their petition to me asking for my comments, which is a normal procedure. But they have not done that," he claimed.

Swamy said the decision was a "dangerous one" as it makes a person teaching in Harvard accountable for what he writes on any subject anywhere in the world.

"If tomorrow anyone writes on India [ Images ] and writes rubbish about India, they come here, then they can be punished here for what they write in America. That would be a dangerous principle. Harvard should look at it," he said.