Ali Khan Mahmudabad: Who Is The Historian Arrested For His Social Media Post On Operation Sindoor?
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Born in Lucknow on December 2, 1982, Ashoka University's Ali Khan Mahmudabad is known for his scholarly work on nationalism, political Islam, and South Asian history
Ali Khan Mahmudabad – a historian, political scientist, and associate professor at Ashoka University – was arrested from his Delhi residence on May 18 over a social media post that questioned the optics of women officers addressing a press briefing after Operation Sindoor.
Mahmudabad's arrest has since ignited a national debate on free speech and drawn sharp reactions, particularly within Uttar Pradesh's political circles. A complaint filed by BJP Yuva Morcha's Haryana general secretary Yogesh Jatheri alleged that his post was 'anti-national" and 'demeaning to India's armed forces".
The post in question, published on Facebook, reportedly questioned the 'representational intent" behind showcasing women officers after the military operation and asked whether their presence signified a genuine shift or was limited to symbolism. The Haryana State Commission for Women took suo motu cognisance of the post earlier on May 12.
On Sunday evening (May 18), he was produced before a magistrate and remanded to two-day police custody. He has been booked under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) – a newly introduced provision replacing sedition – alongside charges related to outraging religious sentiments.
Mahmudabad's legal team, led by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, has approached the Supreme Court seeking immediate relief. Chief Justice BR Gavai assured the matter will be heard on May 20 or 21.
WHO IS HE?
Born in Lucknow on December 2, 1982, Ali Khan Mahmudabad is known for his scholarly work on nationalism, political Islam, and South Asian history.
A PhD from Cambridge, he currently teaches political science at Ashoka University in Haryana's Sonipat. He is the author of 'Poetry of Belonging', a widely acclaimed book exploring Muslim political imagination in colonial India. His academic articles, essays, and columns – published in journals and media outlets across the world – reflect a nuanced engagement with issues of identity, democracy, and religious pluralism.
Fluent in Urdu, Hindi, English, and Arabic, he is one of India's few multilingual academics who also bridges the gap between scholarship and public debate. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and conducted fieldwork in Iran and Iraq.
ARISTOCRATIC ROOTS, POLITICAL PAST
Mahmudabad belongs to the storied royal family of Mahmudabad in Uttar Pradesh. His father, Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan – popularly known as Raja Sahib Mahmudabad – was a two-time Congress MLA and fought a decades-long legal battle to reclaim family properties seized under the Enemy Properties Act.
His grandfather, Mohammad Amir Ahmad Khan, was the last ruling Raja of Mahmudabad and a key financier of the Muslim League in the pre-Partition era. On his maternal side, he is the grandson of former foreign secretary Jagat Singh Mehta and nephew of policy expert Vikram Mehta.
In 2017, Mahmudabad joined the Samajwadi Party and served as its national spokesperson until 2022. Though he distanced himself from formal politics in recent years, he continued to comment on national issues through writing and lectures.
With the Supreme Court set to hear his plea this week, all eyes are on how the judiciary will interpret the use of the new sedition-like provisions under the BNS. As of now, Mahmudabad remains in police custody, even as the chorus for his release grows louder from scholars, opposition parties, and rights activists.
Mahmudabad's arrest triggered widespread condemnation from civil society, opposition leaders, and academic communities both in India and abroad.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called the arrest 'unconstitutional and dangerous". 'Professors, students, journalists – none are safe from state-sponsored targeting if they dissent. This regime has made it clear that critical thinking is now a punishable offence," he said.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor described Mahmudabad's arrest as an 'alarming blow to academic freedom". 'The criminalisation of a social media post – one that seeks introspection rather than instigation – is deeply troubling. This is not nationalism; this is paranoia," he said.
Congress leader Pawan Khera said the case was less about legality and more about a political message. 'This arrest sends a signal: critique the government's narrative, and you will face jail. We cannot let this become the new normal."
The SP, which Mahmudabad was associated with between 2017 and 2022, also issued a scathing statement. 'This government is terrified of intellect," SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said. 'It jails those who write, think, and question, and celebrates those who polarise and provoke."
More than 100 academics from institutions, including Oxford, Yale, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, have signed a petition demanding Mahmudabad's immediate release. The signatories condemned the 'weaponisation of law to suppress intellectual discourse" and termed the arrest 'chillingly reminiscent of authoritarian regimes."
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ashoka university
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New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
May 20, 2025, 08:00 IST
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