Bail With A Dressing-Down!
By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
22 May 2025
On May 21, The Supreme Court granted interim bail to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, but pulled him up for his social media post on 'Operation Sindoor.' The court said "monsters" came and attacked our country and asked the professor why he needed to seek "cheap popularity". Did the Professor seek cheap publicity? Read what he stated in his post:
“Lastly, I am very happy to see so many right wing commentators applauding Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, 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. The optics of two women soldiers presenting their findings is important, but optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy,” he wrote. He ended the note with: “The press conference shows that an India, united in its diversity, is not completely dead as an idea. Jai Hind.”
For this, Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad, writer and Head of the Political Science Department at Ashoka University in Sonipat, Haryana, was remanded to two days in custody. Two separate FIRs were filed against him: One by the HSCW, the other based on a complaint by Yogesh Jatheri, who is the general secretary of the BJP’s state Yuva Morcha, as well as the sarpanch of the Jatheri village.
Our Foreign Secretary said citizens criticising their own government is the hallmark of any open and functioning democracy. Yet, a distinguished Muslim Professor, hailing from an elite family, is being harassed by police and politicians. There's absolutely nothing objectionable or incendiary in his long post. The message is not even oblique or veiled. Just mentioning 'BJP's hate mongering' landed the gentle Professor in the soup. Either the overzealous BJP activists are unable to understand refined English or they do this because the person happens to be a Muslim. When a Minister from MP, Vijay Shah, said something objectionable about Colonel Sofia Qureshi, HC and the Apex Court took suo motu action against him. The Party High Command didn't reprimand him severely, nor was he arrested for his comments. While it's commendable on the part of the Army and Government to appoint a brilliant, articulate, eloquent and upright lady officer Col Sofiya Qureshi as the spokesperson for the ' Operation Sindoor,' the same spirit of inclusiveness should also be extended to the people of the same marginalised community. Otherwise, it becomes an act of symbolism, nay tokenism. This is what the erudite professor Ali Khan suggested without being vocal. He's facing the music for expressing his views in a dignified manner in a democracy which has now become an apology for a democracy. A Muslim has to pay for being righteously candid in today's India. This is indeed very sad.
Lastly, it must be added that though the Supreme Court granted the interim bail to Ali Khan, it also accused him of dog whistling, which refers to the use of coded or suggestive language aimed at a particular group in society.
“Although everybody has the right to freedom of expression, statements by Mahmudabad are what is called dog whistling in law,” the top court was quoted as saying by LiveLaw. That even the Apex Court thinks that the distinguished Professor's post had an ulterior motive is a sign that any act of dissent shown by a Muslim is not welcome in the New India. By the way, Nagpur Police recently booked social activist Pushpa Sathidar over the recital of Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s, 'Hum Dekhenge' at a commemorative event she organised in the city for her husband, actor Vira Sathidar. Times are indeed quite different, difficult and precarious not just for Muslims but for all those who dare question the government and its policies.
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A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/bail-dressing-down-mahmudabad/d/135613
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