MADURAI: The All India Federation of University & College Teachers’ Organisations (AIFUCTO) has today strongly condemned the arrest for Ashoka University professor Dr.Ali Khan Mahmudabad for his social media post about ‘Operation Sindoor’ questioning the human cost of war.
In a press release issued from New Delhi on May 21st 2025, AIFUCTO president Dr.M.Nagarajan and general secretary Prof.Dr.Arun Kumar have urged the Government authorities for immediate release and withdrawal of all charges on him.
“We urge the Ashoka University management not to distance itself from Prof.Dr.Ali Khan Mahmudabad case issue and play safe. It is time for academic community to raise their voice against such infringement on freedom of expression which is given in the Constitution of India. The Ashoka University professor was arrested under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita for alleged “acts endangering India’s sovereignty, unity and integrity. He was arrested for social media post about Operation Sindoor on May 13th 2025 and he was sent to 14-days judicial custody by a local court in Haryana. However, his social media posts had explicitly lauded the Indian armed forces’ professionalism,” the AIFUCTO press statement today has said.
Stating that Dr.Mahmudabad had made a critique of jingoism and questioned the human cost of war in Operation Sindoor, the press release from AIFUCTO had stated that there is hardly anything objectionable in the social media post and it fell within the realm of legally protected speech under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India.
“The charge against this professor is legally untenable and undermines our Constitutional democracy. The Haryana Women’s Commission seems to be deliberately misrepresenting Dr.Ali Khan Mahmudabad’s commentary….our rank in academic freedom index is a point to be thought of by all in the academic fraternity….and we demand immediate release of Ashoka University professor,” the press statement signed by AIFUCTO president Prof.Dr.M.Nagarajan and general secretary Prof.Dr.Arun Kumar has said today- May 21st 2025.
