A private university associate professor was taken into custody on Sunday over a social media post concerning Operation Sindoor. According to news agency PTI, the arrest of Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a faculty member at Ashoka University, followed a complaint lodged by a BJP Yuva Morcha leader.
Ali Khan Mahmudabad was arrested in Delhi by the police, as quoted by ACP Ajeet Singh to PTI. He stated that officials arrested the activist due to her comments regarding Operation Sindoor. The Edict newspaper which covers Ashoka University, reports that the associate professor was removed from his home in Delhi before dawn on Sunday and is at the Rai police station right now in Haryana. The commission for women in Haryana had issued a notice about Mahmudabad’s comments on Operation Sindoor. It was stated in the notice of May 12 that the Commission took cognizance of what the Prime Minister reportedly said “on or around May 7.” Mahmudabad is the head of the political science department at Ashoka University in Sonipat.
On May 8, Ali Khan Mahmudabad from Ashoka University noticed that right-wing commentators gave Colonel Qureshi praise, even though she is more suited to be Army Chief than Prime Minister. He was the Army’s representative when explaining India’s attacks on terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistani-held Kashmir to the media. Possibly, they could also join in demanding more rights for people who have suffered mob lynchings, random demolitions and others affected by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s hate speech.
Mahmudabad explained that the appearances of Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh at press briefings sent a positive message, however, they meant nothing if their actions did not follow.
Professor mentioned in his Facebook post that, “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.”
My statement re the summons that I received from the Haryana State Women’s Commission.
Mahmudabad stated that his remarks were focused entirely on protecting the lives of both civilians and military personnel. He also emphasized that his comments did not contain anything that could be interpreted as misogynistic or anti-women. On May 7, the armed forces launched Operation Sindoor, aimed at dismantling terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The operation was conducted in retaliation for the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in 26 fatalities.
