A district court on Tuesday sent Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad to judicial custody. Mahmudabad has been facing backlash over his remarks on the press briefing and his social media posts on Operation Sindoor where 26 innocent people were massacred. 

The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for May 27. Mahmudabad, who is the head of the political science department at the varsity was arrested on Sunday after two FIRs were filed against him. He had been granted two-day police custody based on a complaint by the Haryana state commission for women.

It may be recalled that the Women’s commission issued a notice over Mahmudabad’s social media posts, while he alleged that they were “misinterpreted” and “were within his fundamental rights”. His posts had raised concerns over the treatment of lynching victims and commented on media coverage involving Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.

Criticism and Support

Meanwhile, Mahmoudabad’s controversy has drawn mixed responses online. While some from the academic community condemned his social media posts calling them derogatory and misogynistic, the others said it was his freedom of speech.

Over 200 academics, including over 20 current and former Vice-Chancellors, have signed a ‘Statement of Objection’ condemning remarks following Operation Sindoor. Signatories include JNU VC Prof Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Gujarat University VC Dr Neerja Gupta, and VCs from Central universities in Rajasthan, Ladakh, and Punjab.

The statement says his posts incite communal disharmony, undermine institutional integrity, and erode gender equity. They urged the Supreme Court to consider the broader socio-legal impact of his comments. The statement observes it as “veiled misogyny cloaked in pseudo-academic inquiry” and particularly objects to his comment on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi’s  presence at the post-operation press briefing whose presence Mahmudabad criticized.

Meanwhile, some members of the Joint Teachers’ Organisations condemned his arrest by the Haryana Police calling it a curb on free speech. Students from Ashoka University as well spoke in his support.

“We, the students of the course ‘Banish the Poets’, stand firmly united and in solidarity with our professor. His wrongful arrest is a stark violation of not just academic freedom, but of the very principles he taught us and stood for. Mahmudabad emphasized the power of the written word and encouraged them to speak,” the students said.

Meanwhile, JNUTA president Surajit Mazumdar called the arrest an insult to those who died in the recent India-Pakistan conflict. He said Mahmudabad’s remarks broke no laws and warned, “If one person’s rights can be violated today, others could be next.”

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