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Outrage after Ashoka varsity professor arrested over Op Sindoor remarks

Academicians, scholars and activists from different parts of India and abroad have come out strongly in support of Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, Associate Professor at Ashoka University, who was arrested by Haryana Police Sunday over his remarks about Operation Sindoor

Sunday May 18, 2025 10:05 PM, News Desk

Academicians, scholars and activists from different parts of India and abroad have come out strongly in support of Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, Associate Professor at Ashoka University, who was arrested by Haryana Police Sunday over his remarks about Operation Sindoor.

Operation Sindoor was the code name given to the Indian airstrikes on targets in Pakistan launched on May 7, 2025 to avenge the April 2025 terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir.

In a social media post on May 8, 2025, Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad highlighted the irony of right- wing groups praising Colonel Sofiya Qureshi – the decorated Indian Army Officer who briefed the media about the Indian military operation against Pakistan along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

“I am very happy to see so many right wing commentators applauding Colonel Sofia Qureshi but perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynching, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the BJP’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens.

“The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is important, but optics must translate to reality on the ground. Otherwise it’s just hypocrisy”, Professor Ali Khan wrote in a post on Facebook.

In the long post on Facebook, Professor Ali Khan also praised the Indian military actions at the same time warning Pakistan saying that “it cannot hide any longer behind terrorists and non-state actors.”

However, Prof Ali Khan’s post irked General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Yuva Morcha in Haryana, Yogesh Jatheri who filed a complaint following which the professor was arrested by Haryana Police Sunday.

A second FIR against the distinguished Professor, who is the son of late Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan, also known as Raja Saheb of Mahmudabad, was filed based on the complaints of Haryana State Commission for Women Chairperson Renu Bhatia.

Prof Ali Khan has been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) pertaining to inciting armed rebellion or subversive activities and insulting religious beliefs and disturbing communal harmony. He will be produced in court tomorrow.

"Deliberate, Malicious Slander"

In an open letter more than 1,200 academicians, scholars and activists have accused the authorities of “misreading” the Professor’s post.

“The Commission has completely, and it seems deliberately, misread his posts and has accused him of “vilifying” India’s army, “violating dignity and outraging women’s modesty, disparaging women in uniform and attributing malicious communal intent to the Government of India and Indian Armed Forces as well as inciting communal distress and attempting to disturb internal peace.”

My sincere thanks to Profs Apoorvanand and Vaidik. It is heartening and humbling to see this cross-sectional support. My profound thanks to the 1200+ people who have signed, called and written in support, especially faculty and students.

Link to letter:https://t.co/LXVhadLezr pic.twitter.com/HLOJ86wRNP

— Ali Khan Mahmudabad (@Mahmudabad) May 17, 2025

In the open letter shared on social media by Prof Ali Khan Mehmudabad himself, the acemicians called his arrest a “deliberate and malicious slander” and demanded apology from the Haryana Women’s Commission.

“We demand that the Haryana State Women’s Commission retract its summons and issue a full and public apology to Prof. Ali Khan Mahmudabad for the manner in which it has deliberately and maliciously slandered him”, they said.

The academicians in their letter written to support Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad also said there is a much stronger case for summoning those who have made rape threats against Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri’s daughter or against the Madhya Pradesh Minister who insulted Col Sofia and against whom MP HC has taken suo mot action.

Activist Shabnam Hashmi of ANHAD while condemning the arrest of Prof Ali Khan, wrote, "Haryana police needs to get an educated person to read his post. There is nothing anti- national or anti- women there."

Mukul Kesavan, historian, novelist and political and social essayist, called the Ashoka University professor's arrest a "crackdown on free speech" and a "new low".

"Prof. Ali Khan Mahmudabad’s arrest is a grotesque and menacing denial of free speech. To see a BJP minister get away with vile comments about Col. Sofiya Qureshi while Mahmudabad is arbitrarily arrested for a reasoned appeal for peace is a new low", he wrote on X.

Sreyas Gautam, a medical student, called Professor Ali Khan's post "rational" and expressed surprise over his arrest.

"Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a highly qualified educator and scholar was arrested for this tweet. His views here are one of the most rational takes I’ve come across in recent times. It’s disturbing what’s happening in this country!" he wrote on X.

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