In academia, comments about Islam remain risky

A recent spate of campus controversies involving professors who made
provocative statements about Muslims shows one of two things: a
decreasing tolerance for inflammatory speech, or how easy it is for
academics to get into trouble. Or perhaps a little bit of both.

The
incidents have forced university leaders into the uncomfortable role of
deciding the line between protecting free speech and confronting
bigotry. Caught in the middle are professors who say their hostility or
sympathy toward Islam often results in intimidation or silence.

In
December, Harvard faculty canceled two summer courses taught by
Subramanian Swamy, an Indian political leader, over his newspaper column
titled "How to Wipe Out Islamic Terror" last July that advocated
demolishing some 300 Indian mosques and requiring Indian Muslims to
prove Hindu ancestry to be allowed to vote.