Ali Khan Mahmudabad is a Political Science professor at Ashoka University (File).
New Delhi:
The arrest of an Ashoka University professor - for a social media post referencing Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, the Army officer who was part of Operation Sindoor briefings - has led to a row, with his remark seen as "disparagement of women in uniform".
Here are the top 10 points in this big story:
- Ali Khan Mahmudabad was arrested from his residence in Delhi Sunday evening by Haryana Police - on charges that include endangering India's sovereignty - based on a complaint by a BJP youth wing leader. He was sent to police custody for 48 hours.
- Mr Mahmudabad, who faces two cases, said his comments had been "misread". He said he had only exercised his "fundamental right to freedom of thought and speech in order to promote peace and harmony", had nothing but praise for the Indian military and its "resolute action", and criticised "those who preach hatred and seek to destabilise India".
- He has approached the Supreme Court for relief; a bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih agreed to hear his plea by Wednesday, after senior advocate Kapil Sibal said the professor had been "arrested for (making) a patriotic statement".
- The posts that led to the row called the briefings by Col Qureshi as "optics", and said, "... optics must translate to on-ground reality, otherwise it's just hypocrisy". He also said individuals applauding her presence at those briefings must also demand the government protect Muslims against mob lynchings and "arbitrary bulldozing of properties".
- The arrest has been criticised by the Congress. The opposition party said Mr Mahmudabad made two 'mistakes' - a sharp remark referring to his Islamic heritage. "His (first) mistake is he wrote this post. His other mistake is his name," Congress leader Pawan Khera said on X. "This is the 'New India' under the Narendra Modi government".
- Mr Khera also slammed the ruling party for arresting a scholar who 'dared to speak truth to power and expose (its) communal narrative', and pointed out the 'hypocrisy' of two BJP leaders who 'faced no action after openly demeaning the military'.
- The reference was to Madhya Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda and minister Vijay Shah. According to the Congress, Mr Devda said the military 'bowed at the feet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi'. But he accused the Congress of twisting his words; according to him, he said the 'people of India bow... at the feet of the military'.
- Mr Shah, meanwhile, made comments linking Col Qureshi to the religion of the terrorists who killed 26 people in J&K's Pahalgam last month - the attack that led to India launching Op Sindoor to wipe out terror camps in Pakistan and Pak-occupied Kashmir. He was told to apologise by the Supreme Court, but the apology's sincerity has been questioned.
- Apart from the Congress, the Samajwadi Party has also criticised the BJP; party boss Akhilesh Yadav compared swift action against Mr Mahmudabad with the sluggish response to the Vijay Shah's comment. He said on X, "Those in power are free even after speaking ill of others, and those who spoke the truth have been arrested."
- Ashoka University has said it is "ascertaining the details of this case" and that it will "continue to cooperate with the police and local authorities in the investigation, fully".
With input from agencies
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