Harvard University has cancelled Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy’s summer courses over his controversial article in an English newspaper. Swamy had in the article advocated for a “Hindu Rashtra in which non-Hindus can vote only if they proudly acknowledge that their ancestors were Hindus”.

Reacting to the University’s stand Swamy said: “I think the University should have sent the petition to me first for my comments and then decided it. But it seems like a Kangaroo court that has taken place in Harvard.” Nevertheless, he sought a “relook” on the decision.

“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,” said The Harvard Crimson, the campus newspaper.

When the controversy erupted over Swamy’s article — “How to wipe out Islamic Terror” — published three days after the Mumbai blast in July, Harvard defended him citing “freedom of speech”. Several Left-wing student organizations registered their protest to the University against Swamy, who teaches in summer (June-August).

“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.”

Countering the Harvard’s stand, Swamy said that they had never sought his version before taking the action. “The article was written for a Mumbai newspaper and I teach Economics in Harvard. I would assume that they would have sent their petition to me asking for my comment 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 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.

“IIT Delhi sacked me in 1973. Four years later, I became a member of the IIT Board of Governors, the very body which had sacked me,” Swamy said.