What Ashoka University Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad Said In His Post

Dr Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an associate professor and head of the Political Science Department at Ashoka University, was arrested by Haryana Police in Delhi on Sunday, May 18, 2025, over social media comments regarding Operation Sindoor. As per latest reports, he has been sent to remand till Tuesday.

The arrest was made reportedly based on a complaint by Yogesh Jatheri, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s youth wing, under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to acts prejudicial to maintaining communal harmony, making assertions likely to cause disharmony, inciting secession, armed rebellion or subversive activities, and insulting religious beliefs.

Here is the full text of what Dr Ali Khan Mahmudabad wrote on May 8:

“Strategically India has actually begun a new phase in terms of collapsing distinction between military and terrorist (non-state actors) in Pakistan. In effect the response to any terrorist activity will invite a conventional response and so this puts the onus on the Pakistani military to make sure that it cannot hide any longer behind terrorists and non-state actors. In any case the Pak military has used militarised non-state actors to destabilise the region for far too long while also claiming to be victims on the international stage. It has also used the same actors- some of whom were targeted in the recent strikes- to foment sectarian tension in Pakistan. Operation Sindoor resets all received notions of Indo-Pak relationships as the response to terrorist attacks will be met with a military response and removes any semantic distinction between the two. Despite this collapse, care has been taken by the Indian armed forces to not target military or civilian installations or infrastructure so that there is no unnecessary escalation. The message is clear: if you don’t deal with your terrorism problem then we will! The loss of civilian life is tragic on both sides and is the main reason why war should be avoided.

There are those who are mindlessly advocating for a war but they have never seen one let alone lived in or visited a conflict zone. Being part of a mock civil defense drill does not make you a solider and neither will you ever know the pain of someone who suffers losses because of conflict. War is brutal. The poor suffer disproportionately and the only people who benefit are politicians and defence companies. While war is inevitable because politics is primarily rooted in violence – at least human history teaches us this- we have to realise that political conflicts have never been solved militarily.

Lastly, I am very happy to see so many right wing commentators applauding Colonel Sophia Qureishi but perhaps they could also equally loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of the BJP’s hate mongering be protected as Indian citizens. The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is importantly but optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy. When a prominent Muslim politicians said “Pakistan Murdabad” and was trolled by Pakistanis for doing so- Indian right wing commentators defended him by saying “he is our mulla.” Of course this is funny but it also points to just how deep communalism has managed to infect the indian body politic.

For me the press conference was just a fleeting glimpse- an illusion and allusion perhaps- to an India that defied the logic on which Pakistan was built. As I said, the grassroots reality that common Muslims face is different from what the government tried to show but at the same time the press conference shows that an India, united it its diversity, is not completely dead as an idea.

Jai Hind”