The Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, has warned broadcasters against becoming overly cautious while reporting on Islam.

There was "a growing nervousness about discussion about Islam and its relationship to the traditions and values of British and Western society as a whole," said Thompson while speaking at Westminster Cathedral.

He further said that the BBC and other major media houses "have a special responsibility" in ensuring that debates pertaining to "faith and society" and about any religion "should not be foreclosed or censored".

"There is no point having a BBC which isn't prepared to stand up and be counted; which will do everything it can to mitigate potential religious offence; but which will always be forthright in the defence of freedom of speech and of impartiality," Time Online quoted Thompson, as saying.