The Congress on Monday condemned the arrest of Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, saying it shows how fearful the BJP is of any opinion which it dislikes, while party leader Pawan Khera stated that 'his mistake was his name'.
Mahmudabad, Ashoka University's head of the political science department, was arrested on Sunday after two FIRs were lodged on stringent charges, including endangering sovereignty and integrity, for his social media posts related to Operation Sindoor.
The Haryana State Commission for Women had recently sent a notice to the associate professor questioning his remarks, though Mahmudabad had maintained that they were "misunderstood" and asserted that he had exercised his fundamental right to freedom of speech.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear Ashoka University professor's plea in next two days after he was arrested for a social media post related to 'Operation Sindoor'.
Congress Says, 'His Mistake Is His Name'
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said his party condemns any character assassination, vilification, trolling, harassment, unlawful arrest of any individual and vandalism of any business entity, either through fringe elements or through official state machinery.
"The arrest of Ashoka University professor, Ali Khan Mahmudabad shows how fearful the BJP is of any opinion, disliked by them," he said in a post on X.
Kharge said the arrest follows a chain reaction which began from targeting the "grieving widow of our martyred Naval officer, our Foreign Secretary and his daughter, and the deplorable disparaging comments made by a BJP Minister for a serving Colonel in the Indian Army".
"Instead of sacking their own Madhya Pradesh's Deputy CM & Minister, who made disgusting statements against our valiant Armed Forces, BJP-RSS is hellbent in casting a narrative that anybody who represents Pluralism, questions the government or simply performs his professional duty in the service of the nation, is a threat to its existence," he noted.
Kharge said supporting the armed forces and the government, when national interest reigns supreme, does not mean that it cannot question the government.
"National Unity is supreme for the Congress party, BJP should be under no impression that it can foster Dictatorship under the garb of the present developments. Democracy should stand tall," the Congress chief said.
In a post on X, Khera said Mahmudabad has been arrested for a "thoughtful" Facebook post. "A historian and academic is jailed not for inciting violence but for advocating against it. His crime? Daring to speak truth to power, exposing the BJP's cynical communal narrative, and calling out the hypocrisy of chest-thumping nationalism."
"His only mistake is that he wrote this post. His other mistake is his name," Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said. "This is the state of New India under the Modi government".
"Meanwhile, the BJP minister and their deputy CM face no action after openly demeaning the armed forces. No FIRs. No arrests. That's the double standard of Modi's governance," he said.
Khera was referring to the alleged objectionable comments made by Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah and the state deputy chief minister Jagdish Devda.
Referring to the BJP ministers' comments, Khera said, "This is not about one man. It is about the slow suffocation of freedom of speech, the criminalisation of dissent, and the use of state machinery to silence intellectuals who challenge the BJP's manufactured rage." He claimed the current dispensation fears questions, its own people.
When writers, professors and critics are branded enemies, the real enemy is democracy itself, he asserted and added, "We stand for an India that values debate and democracy, not dictates." "Mahmudabad, by the way, is the grandson of Padma Bhushan late Jagat S Mehta, who served as India's Foreign Secretary from 1976-79, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the External Affairs Minister. His only mistake is that he wrote this post. And his other mistake is his name," Khera said With the post, he also shared a screenshot of the academic's post for which he has been arrested.
Teachers' Bodies Demand Immediate Release
JNU and Ashoka University teachers' association on Sunday condemned the arrest of Mahmudabad.
"The JNUTA expresses its outrage at the wholly unwarranted arrest by the Haryana Police of Dr Khan. This arrest, purportedly on the basis of a complaint by a leader of the ruling party, follows soon after the Haryana State Commission for Women acted way beyond its jurisdiction in taking suo motu cognisance of some statements made by Professor Khan," the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association said in a statement.
The Faculty Association of Ashoka said the arrest of the political science professor was "groundless and untenable." "We condemn the calculated harassment to which Professor Mahmudabad has been subjected: after being arrested early in the morning from his home in New Delhi, he was taken to Sonipat, not allowed access to necessary medication, and driven around for hours without any communication about his whereabouts," it said.
The teachers' outfit said Professor Mahmudabad is well-versed in diverse literary and linguistic traditions and is a widely acclaimed expert and scholar of history and political science in South Asia and beyond.
"In all of his writing, both for academic and wider public fora, he has emphasised the importance of justice, pluralism, and solidarity, and has always advocated a profound respect for Constitutional values and morality," it said.
The body vouchsafed the professor's rational, critical, yet deeply respectful character and attested to his "personal kindness, his concern for others, and his tireless commitment to sharing his knowledge and resources." "We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Professor Mahmudabad and the dropping of all charges against him," it said.
