Operation Sindoor: Haryana women panel summons Ashoka University professor over his remarks
An associate professor from Ashoka University has been summoned after receiving a notice from Haryana State Commission for Women over his Operation Sindoor remarks “disparaging women in the armed forces and promoting communal disharmony”, which has raised concerns after its initial review.
He called media briefings by Colonel Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh as “optics”. “But optics must translate to reality on the ground otherwise it’s just hypocrisy,” he had stated.
What does the notice say?
The panel was quick to take suo motu cognisance of the “public statements/remarks” made “on or about May 7” by Ali Khan Mahmudabad, an associate professor and the head of the political science department of the Ashoka University in Sonipat, read the May 12 notice.
The commission summoned Mahmudabad to appear before it in the matter as it mentioned his comments were in reference to Operation Sindoor. Mahmudabad’s remarks have been annexed to the notice, and in one of them, he stated that right-wing people praising Colonel Sofia Qureshi should ask protection for victims of mob lynchings and “arbitrary” bulldozing of properties.
Mahmudabad’s remarks showcase misrepresentation of facts with repeated indication to “genocide”, “dehumanisation”, and “hypocrisy”, thereby crediting malicious communal intent to the government and the armed forces, including inciting communal distress while making an effort to disturb internal harmony, according to the commission.
It also observed the remarks as attempts at vilifying military actions and the women officers’ role in response to cross-border terrorism, potential incitement to public unrest, particularly targetting communal harmony and undermining national integrity. The notice added the remarks were a breach of ethical conduct expected of university faculty and the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, 2018.
