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Ali Khan Mahmudabad arrested: Controversy on Ashoka University professor explained
Ali Khan Mahmudabad had called the row "a new form of censorship and harassment, which invents issues where there are none".
Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an associate professor at Haryana's Ashoka University, was arrested on Sunday morning for allegedly making disparaging remarks against women serving in the armed forces and promoting communal disharmony.
Ali Khan Mahmudabad said last week that his remarks, made in reference to the press conferences addressed by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh on Operation Sindoor, were not misogynistic and that he was being censored.
What's the row about?
On May 12, the Haryana women's commission sent a notice to the professor regarding making public statements on Operation Sindoor on social media.
According to the notice, Mahmudabad had said that the "right-wing people applauding Colonel Sofia Qureshi should demand protection for victims of mob lynchings and arbitrary bulldozing of properties”.
The notice said he had called the briefings by the two senior women officers of the Indian armed forces "optics and hypocrisy". “But optics must translate to reality on the ground, otherwise it’s just hypocrisy,” the notice quoted him as saying.
The panel said his remarks raised concerns about "disparagement of women in uniform, including Col Qureshi and Wing Commander Singh and undermined their role as professional officers in the Indian armed forces”.
The commission further said that his remarks misrepresented facts and talked about “genocide, dehumanisation, and hypocrisy”, thereby attributing malicious communal intent to the government and the armed forces as well as inciting communal distress and attempting to disturb internal peace.
Also read: Op Sindoor remarks: Ashoka University prof fails to appear before Haryana women’s panel
What did Ali Khan Mahmudabad say in response to the summons?
In a statement released this week on X, the professor stated, “The screenshots attached to the notice make it clear that my remarks have been completely misunderstood and that the Commission has no jurisdiction whatsoever in the matter. The Women's Commission is a body that serves an important function; however, the summons issued to me fails to highlight how my post is contrary to the rights of or laws for women.”
He said he had appreciated that Colonel Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh were chosen to represent India.
“I even applauded members of the right wing who supported Colonel Qureshi and invited them to have the same attitude for common Indian Muslims who face demonisation and persecution on a daily basis. 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,” he said.
He had called the panel's summons "a new form of censorship and harassment, which invents issues where there are none".
What did Ashoka University say?
Ashoka University had said Mahmudabad's statements didn't represent its views on the matter and were made in individual capacity.
“Ashoka University and all members of the Ashoka community are proud of India’s armed forces and support them, unequivocally, in their actions towards maintaining national security. We stand in solidarity with the nation and our forces,” it added.
