Some opposition parties including CPI(M) and TMC on Sunday condemned the arrest of Ashoka University's head of the political science department, Ali Khan Mahmudabad.
Mahmudabad 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, police and his lawyer said.
The CPI(M), AIMIM leader Asaddudin Owaisi and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra were among those who condemned the arrest.
"Haryana police reportedly arrested him from Delhi, violating legal process. This targets an individual for his opinions; his post wasn't anti-national or misogynistic. A mere complaint by a BJP worker made Haryana police take action," Owaisi said on X.
In a post on X, the CPI (M) said, "We condemn the arrest of professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad for his social media post against hate. While hate-mongers like Vijay Shah (Madhya Pradesh minister) roam free, those calling for justice and peace are targeted in Modi's India." TMC leader Mohua Moitra said they will move the court against the arrest.
"Horrified at arrest of distinguished scholar & academic Prof @Mahmudabad - has this bigoted govt & @police_haryana totally lost it? We are moving court asap (sic)," she said on X.
The arrest comes days after the Haryana State Commission for Women sent a notice to associate professor Mahmudabad questioning his remarks, though he had maintained that they were "misunderstood" and asserted that he had exercised his fundamental right to freedom of speech.
"Ali Khan Mahmudabad has been arrested in Delhi," Assistant Commissioner of Police, Rai, Ajeet Singh said over phone, adding the action came in connection with some comments related to Operation Sindoor.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Narender Kadyan said two FIRs were lodged at the Rai police station here -- one based on a complaint from the chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, Renu Bhatia, and the other on the complaint of a village sarpanch.
"On the Commission chairperson's complaint, the FIR has been lodged against Prof Ali of Ashoka University under BNS sections 152 (acts endangering sovereignty or unity and integrity of India), 353 (statements conducing to public mischief), 79 (deliberate actions aimed at insulting the modesty of a woman) and 196 (1) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion)," Kadyan told reporters here.
"He has been arrested today...Two FIRs have been registered at the Rai police station," he said.
Police remand of Ali will be taken on the basis of a complaint of the Commission, he said.
Indian armed forces hit terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7 under Operation Sindoor in retaliation against the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The associate professor had earlier said that the state Commission for women has "misread" his comment.
"...I am surprised that the Women's Commission, while overreaching its jurisdiction, has misread and misunderstood my posts to such an extent that they have inverted their meaning," Mahmudabad had said on X.
He had said that he had exercised his "fundamental right to freedom of thought and speech in order to promote peace and harmony and to applaud the Indian armed forces for their resolute action, while criticising those who preach hatred and seek to destabilise India".
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