Haryana Police arrested Mahmudabad, the head of Ashoka University’s political science department, on Sunday after two FIRs were registered against him, alleging his social media posts on Operation Sindoor endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
A Sonipat court on Tuesday sent Mahmudabad to judicial custody till May 27.
Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) president Surajit Mazumdar said the arrest was an insult to the memory of those whose lives were lost in the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan. Stressing that there was “absolutely nothing” in Mahmudabad’s statements that violated the law, Mazumdar said, “If one individual’s right can be infringed today, the same can happen to others.” “You (the government) take action against an innocent person. Even if the man gets bail tomorrow, the sufferings of that person and his family can not be justified. I demand the judiciary not only to see whether he can get bail, but also to hold those who use the law inappropriately accountable,” Mazumdar said.
Ashoka University students’ union president-elect Insha Hussain also echoed similar views and said they demand justice for their professor.
In a video message, RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha, also a faculty member in Delhi University’s department of social work, said Mahmudabad’s arrest raises several questions.
“On one hand is a minister from Madhya Pradesh who makes vulgar and crass remarks and yet gets away. But our colleague from Ashoka University — who stated facts and narrated incidents with a perspective — was put behind bars. And we thought you are not closed for being open in a true democracy! “It is time to show solidarity. It is time to tell our prime minister and the entire regime that while you send goodwill missions abroad, do not forget to spread the spirit of the same mission in India — in our universities, in every village and in every city,” Jha said.
Dhiraj Nite, a professor at the Ambedkar University Delhi, said that rationalist human beings “are at the receiving end” in the country.
“We demand protection for freedom of expression and speech. We also wish for peace to flourish in both the countries,” he said.
The FIRs against Mahmudabad were lodged at the Rai police station in Sonipat district — one based on a complaint by the chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, Renu Bhatia, and the other on a complaint by a village sarpanch.
The faculty association of Ashoka University, as well as its students, have condemned Mahmudabad’s arrest and demanded his immediate release. PTI MHS SLB ARI
