.svg)
A wave of condemnation is sweeping through the academic community following the arrest of Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, head of the political science department at Ashoka University, a prominent private institution in northern India. Professor Mahmudabad was apprehended by Haryana state police in Delhi on Sunday, acting on a complaint filed by the Haryana State Commission for Women.
The arrest stems from social media posts made by the Cambridge-educated scholar on May 8th and 11th, in the aftermath of India's "Operation Sindoor." This military action, launched in retaliation for the deadly April 22nd Pahalgam attack that claimed 26 civilian lives, targeted nine alleged terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
In his posts, Professor Mahmudabad reportedly questioned the "optics" surrounding the use of female Muslim defence officers – Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh – during briefings on Operation Sindoor. While acknowledging the significance of women in these roles, he raised concerns that such presentations could be perceived as "hypocrisy" without concurrent and substantive reforms aimed at enhancing the status of women within the Armed Forces and other public sectors. He also alluded to incidents of mob lynching targeting Muslim men in his posts.
The arrest has ignited fierce criticism, with academics denouncing it as an act of "harassment" and a blatant attempt at "censorship." Concerns are mounting over the shrinking space for free expression and academic inquiry in India.
This incident also brings back memories of a similar controversy that rocked Ashoka University in 2021. The institution witnessed the successive resignations of esteemed scholars Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian, who cited a lack of academic freedom after Mr. Mehta was reportedly deemed a "political liability" by the university's founders. These earlier departures triggered widespread student protests and drew international condemnation.
The arrest of Professor Mahmudabad has further amplified anxieties about the autonomy and intellectual freedom of academic institutions in India, raising serious questions about the state of dissent and critical thought in the country.
