Professor’s arrest over post sparks academic freedom outcry

India’s Supreme Court this week granted interim bail to a professor arrested for making what were considered highly controversial comments on social media in relation to India’s recent military operation against Pakistan. The arrest sparked a huge outcry over academic freedom and “politically motivated” arrests.

Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an associate professor and head of the political science department at Ashoka University, a prestigious private institution in Sonipat in the Northern Indian state of Haryana, was arrested by Sonipat police on 18 May and subsequently remanded to 14 days of judicial custody by a Haryana court.

The arrest followed a complaint lodged by a local resident, Yogesh Jatheri, general secretary of the youth wing of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana, and separately by the Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW).

Mahmudabad was accused of “endangering the country’s sovereignty and integrity” and “inciting hatred between two communities” in a social media post on India-Pakistan tensions, though no charges were formally filed against him at the time of his arrest.

In the offending Facebook post, Mahmudabad referred to the “optics” of a widely broadcast media briefing by female military officers Colonel Sofiya Quereshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, saying it would be “hypocrisy” if the “optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings” did not translate into reality on the ground.

The HSCW said the social media comments were “an attempt to vilify national military actions”.

In a later post on X last week, the professor said he was exercising his “fundamental right to freedom of thought and speech” and dismissed the HSCW complaint as “censorship and harassment”.

Mahmudabad’s lawyers also contended the professor was exercising his academic freedom and that the statements were taken out of context. Mahmudabad’s remarks were within the bounds of academic and democratic discourse, they said.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Mahmudabad, said his client “had no criminal intent”. However, additional solicitor general SV Raju maintained, “the post was not as innocent as projected by Sibal”.

Supreme court outcome

The Supreme Court granted bail on 21 May, but it declined to halt investigation into the matter. During the proceedings, Supreme Court justices Surya Kant and NK Singh criticised the professor for the timing of his comments.

These came after the 22 April terror attack which killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen visiting Pahalgam in the restive Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir.

As part of a military operation code-named Operation Sindoor, Indian armed forces subsequently launched airstrikes on Pakistan on 7 May, targeting what the Indian military described as terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India blames Pakistan for the terror attack.

A truce was declared on 10 May after missile strikes by India and Pakistan on military targets in each other’s territory.

During the hearing, the judges said while the professor's intent seemed anti-war, “certain phrases could be interpreted in multiple ways”.

The court emphasised the importance of unity during times of national crisis, questioning the appropriateness of “seeking publicity” amidst ongoing tensions.

The Supreme Court asked the Haryana director general of police, the state’s top police official, to set up a special investigation team within 24 hours, comprising senior police officers from outside Haryana and Delhi, including at least one female officer, to further probe the case.

The court placed restrictions on Mahmudabad, prohibiting him from any posts or speeches related to the case, as well as from commenting on the Pahalgam terror attack and the ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. He was also told to surrender his passport.

In a statement after the court order, Ashoka University said: “We are relieved and heartened by Prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad being granted interim bail by the Hon’ble Supreme Court. It has provided great comfort to his family and all of us at Ashoka University.”

Ashoka University had earlier distanced itself from Mahmudabad’s posts, stressing that “these statements have been made by him independently in his individual capacity”.

This did not satisfy academics at the university. Last week the Committee for Academic Freedom (CAF) at Ashoka University called the arrest “disproportionate punishment made on flimsy grounds,” and “a fundamental attack on academic freedom”.

The CAF added: “This is a clear curtailment of his freedom as an academic and public intellectual … We call upon Ashoka University to publicly stand by Professor Mahmudabad”.

A possible misunderstanding?

Many academics said the complaints appear to be a misunderstanding of Mahmudabad’s post, which does not express any criticism of Operation Sindoor or the two women military officers.

In his Facebook post on 8 May, Mahmudabad expressed concerns about “those who are mindlessly advocating for a war” and highlighted the negative consequences of such conflicts.

He referred to the press briefing by the two female Indian military officers, comments that were perceived by some to be disparaging towards women in military roles in that they specifically targeted the two women and referred to them as “optics”.

The relevant part of the actual post reads as follows: “Lastly, I am very happy to see so many right-wing commentators applauding Colonel Sophia Qureishi [his spelling], 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” – a reference to government actions against Muslims and others.

He goes on to write: “The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is importantly [sic], but optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy”.

Support from students and faculty

Mahmudabad's arrest sparked a significant backlash from students and faculty at Ashoka University, who rallied in his support. The university’s faculty association condemned the arrest, labelling it a “stark violation” of academic freedom and the principles of open discourse that Mahmudabad had always promoted.

Students expressed solidarity, emphasising Mahmudabad’s teachings on secular values such as reason, compassion, justice, and freedom of thought.

Faculty members from other universities, including Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), along with national student organisations such as the Students’ Federation of India, All India Students Association, and the main opposition Congress party, labelled the charges as “politically motivated” and said the arrest was “deeply concerning in a democratic society”.

In a statement the JNU Teachers’ Association noted that it was “outraged by the unjust arrest”, which it said “appears to be based on a complaint from a leader of the ruling party (BJP)”.