Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad arrested for remarks on Operation Sindoor

NEW DELHI: An associate professor from a private university was arrested on Sunday for a social media post related to Operation Sindoor. The arrest of Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who teaches at Ashoka University, was based on a complaint filed by a BJP Yuva Morcha leader, news agency PTI reported. "Ali Khan Mahmudabad has been arrested from Delhi," Ajeet Singh, assistant commissioner of police (ACP), Rai police station, was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI. He confirmed that the arrest is linked to remarks made about Operation Sindoor.According to The Edict, the student newspaper of Ashoka University, the associate professor was taken from his residence in Delhi on Sunday morning and is currently being held at the Rai police station in Haryana. The Haryana state commission for women had earlier issued a notice to Mahmudabad regarding his comments on Operation Sindoor. The notice, dated May 12, said that the Commission had taken suo motu cognisance of the "public statements/remarks" made by him "on or about May 7." Mahmudabad heads the political science department at Ashoka University in Sonipat.On May 8, Ali Khan Mahmudabad, head of the political science department at Ashoka University, posted on social media pointing out what he saw as irony in the praise from right-wing commentators for Colonel Sofia Qureshi. Qureshi had represented the Army during media briefings on India’s military strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. "Perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens," he had written. Mahmudabad also said the appearance of Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh at press briefings was significant, but added that "optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy."The professor added in his facebook post, "For me the press conference was just a fleeting glimpse- an illusion and allusion perhaps- to an India that defied the logic on which Pakistan was built. As I said, the grassroots reality that common Muslims face is different from what the government tried to show but at the same time the press conference shows that an India, united it its diversity, is not completely dead as an idea." He later said the women’s commission had "completely misunderstood" his comments and that its notice did not show how his posts were "contrary to the right of or laws for women." Mahmudabad said, "If anything, my entire comments were about safeguarding the lives of both citizens and soldiers. Furthermore, there is nothing remotely misogynistic about my comments that could be construed as anti-women." On May 7, Armed forces carried out Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This action came in response to the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 people were killed.