According to local media reports, the professor at an elite private liberal university in India was arrested for a social media post about a news briefing on military operations against Pakistan.
Ali Khan Mamdabad, an associate professor of political science at Ashoka University, was arrested on Sunday in a section of criminal law related to community harmony, incitement of armed rebellion and destructive activities, and acts related to maintaining the humiliation of religious beliefs.
Police officers told the Indian Express newspaper that 42-year-old Mahmudabad had been arrested in the New Delhi capital, 60km (37 miles) south of the university in Sonepat, Haryana.
A report in the online publication Scroll.in on Sunday quoted Mahmudabad’s lawyer saying that the lawsuit against him was filed on Saturday on the basis of a complaint by Yogeshjasari, the general secretary of the youth building of Haryana’s control Bharatiyajanata Party (BJP).
The arrest comes days after Haryana Women’s Commission summoned Mahmudabad on comments about daily explanations of Indian military operations in Kashmir, controlled by Pakistan and Pakistan. Indian Army Colonel Sofia Kureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh held a media briefing on Operation Sindoah, which was released on May 6th.
In a Facebook post on May 8th, Mahmudabad said: “I am very pleased to see so many right-wing commentators praise Colonel Sophia Qureishi, but perhaps they can also loudly demand that Mob Lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the BJP are supported as citizens of India.
“The optics of the two female soldiers presenting the findings are important, but the optics need to be converted into reality on the ground, otherwise it’s just hypocrisy.”
The post refers to Qureishi, a Muslim officer in the Indian Army, and includes attacks on Muslims, namely lynching and the destruction of homes without legitimate procedures.
According to local media reports, the Haryana Women’s Commission on Monday summoned him, saying that the professor’s statement “had lightly paraded female officers of the Indian military and promoted joint discord.”
Mahmudabad defended his comments and said they had been misunderstood in X.
“If anything, my entire comment was about protecting the lives of both citizens and soldiers. Furthermore, there is no distant false dynamic about my comments, which are interpreted as anti-women,” he said.
In February last year, human rights group Amnesty International urged the government to stop “dismantling unfair targets of Muslim property.”
“The illegal dismantling of Muslim property by Indian authorities, deemed by political leaders and the media as “bulldozer justice,” is cruel and terrifying. Such evacuation and confiscation are highly unfair, illegal and discriminatory. They destroy their families and must stop them immediately.
“The authorities repeatedly undermined the rule of law through targeted campaigns of hatred, harassment, violence and weaponisation of JCB bulldozers, destroying homes, businesses or places of worship. These human rights violations must be addressed urgently,” she said in a statement.
The Indian Supreme Court has ordered a halt of justice for so-called bulldozers, but that has not stopped the authorities from ignoring the legitimate process.
BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is also accused of allowing far-right Hindu vigilante groups to act with immunity. They lynched Muslims and tried to police relations between the pagans. Modi spoke to the killing of the cow vigilantes, but his government did little to stop the vigilantes’ group’s activities.
My statement is a subpoena I received from the Haryana Women’s Commission.
Posts that have been misunderstood and objected to can visit our Facebook page. pic.twitter.com/u4rzraxhfx
– Ali Khan Mahmudabad (@mahmudabad) May 14, 2025
Professors and activists across the country have shown their support for Mahmudabad.
The open letter, which included around 1,200 signatories, released Friday, said “Professor Khan praised the military’s strategic detention, analysing the current collapse of the distinction between terrorist or non-state actors from the Pakistani military, and stated that it is important for female officers to have lifubric visuals for the sake of media debrief.”
Announcing on May 10, the ceasefire between India and Pakistan has halted missile and drone attacks for several days across shared borders. Pakistan said at least 31 people have been killed in the Indian strike, while India said at least 15 people have been killed in Pakistan’s counterattack.
