Ashoka varsity’s assistant prof held over Op Sindoor remarks

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DCP (Crime) Narender Kadyan said Mahmudabad, who is in the political science department of the university, was arrested from Delhi in the wee hours of Sunday.

One case was registered on the complaint of Yogesh Jatheri, general secretary, BJYM, and sarpanch of Jatheri village, on Saturday night under Sections 152, 196 (1), 197 (1) and 299 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The second case was registered on the complaint of Renu Bhatia, chairperson, Haryana State Commission for Women (HSCW), under Sections 353, 79, 152 and 169 (1) of the BNS, the DCP said.

Recommending FIR against the assistant professor, the women's commission said, “The statements made by Mahmudabad concerning Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh are not only deeply anti-women in nature, but also appear to be designed to foment communal disharmony and spread malicious propaganda against the Indian state and the armed forces, particularly at a time of national security concern. Such actions constitute a grave threat to public order, the dignity of our armed forces, and the unity and integrity of the nation.”

Notably, the HSCW had taken a suo motu cognisance of the remarks made by the assistant professor on social media platforms. Bhatia had summoned Mahmudabad on May 14.

After he skipped the summons, the HSCW chairperson visited Ashoka University on Thursday to inquire into the matter but he did not appear before the panel again.

Taking a serious note, the HSCW chairperson wrote to the Haryana DGP to lodge a case against him on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, in a statement regarding the arrest, Ashoka University said, “We have been made aware that Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad has been taken into police custody earlier today. We are in the process of ascertaining details of the case.”

“The university will cooperate with the police and local authorities in the investigation fully,” the statement added.

In another development, the Haryana Government has transferred Sonepat Police Commissioner Nazneen Bhasin. The transfer is being seen as a fallout of a recent incident of reportedly not providing police escort to the HSWC chairperson during her visit to Ashoka University on Thursday.