My comments misunderstood: Ashoka prof after women’s panel summons

Gurgaon: An Ashoka University professor who was summoned by Haryana State Commission for Women for his social media posts on Operation Sindoor, did not appear before the panel on Wednesday.s While the commission's chairperson said they would visit the university next, the professor released a statement late Wednesday, saying his comments had been completely misunderstood and "solely express concern over the rhetorical excesses and reckless warmongering exhibited by certain sections of the civilian public".The commission had on Monday taken suo motu cognisance of posts by professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad and asked him to appear before it in Panchkula at 10am on May 14. The professor was asked to submit an affidavit explaining his statements and providing supporting documents, including details of his contract with the university based in Sonipat.Failure to comply could lead to legal consequences, the commission had said.The women's commission can issue summons or make inquiries, but it does not have the same legal status as that of a court of law. The commission said in its summons that the posts on India's military operation and tensions with Pakistan after the April 22 Pahalgam attack "disparaged women in the armed forces" and "risked inciting communal disharmony".In its notice, it objected to the use of terms like "genocide", "hypocrisy" and "dehumanisation" and accused the professor of attempting to "malign national military efforts and sow communal divisions". "There is also a misrepresentation of facts surrounding India's counter-terror operations, framed in a way that may encourage unrest or civil disturbance, a violation of women's dignity by indirectly questioning their role and legitimacy in military service, and a breach of ethical guidelines for university faculty under UGC Regulations, 2018," the notice read. Commission chairperson Renu Bhatia, a BJP functionary from Faridabad, said Mahmudabad had previously made "controversial remarks" on the Gaza conflict, "in a manner that encouraged student mobilisation and protests on specific ideological positions rather than fostering balanced academic discussion". Mahmudabad, who is an alumnus of Cambridge University from where he has an MPhil in history and a PhD in social sciences, had posted about the brutality of war and said it was the poor who suffered from it while "politicians and defence companies" benefit. "There are those who are mindlessly advocating for a war but they have never seen one let alone lived in or visited a conflict zone," he wrote. On Colonel Sofia Qureshi, who along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh held press briefings on Operation Sindoor, the professor wrote that he was "happy" to see right-wing commentators applaud the Indian Army officer but "perhaps they can equally loudly demand that victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing… are protected as Indian citizens". In his statement on Wednesday, Mahmudabad said his lawyers had submitted a detailed reply to the summons but maintained that the women's panel has no jurisdiction in the matter. "The summons issued to me fail to highlight how my post is contrary to the rights of or laws for women," he said. "Contrary to the allegations, my post appreciated the fact that the armed forces chose Colonel Sofia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh for the press conference to highlight the fact that the dream of the founders of our Republic, of an India which is united in its diversity, is still very much alive. I even applauded members of the right wing who supported Colonel Qureshi and invited them to have the same attitude for common Indian Muslims who face demonisation and persecution on a daily basis. If anything, my entire comments were about safeguarding the lives of both citizens and soldiers," he added. He also said he had emphasised that "care has been taken by the Indian armed forces to not target military or civilian installations or infrastructure so that there is no unnecessary escalation", which "reflects a clear appreciation of the Indian military's measured and proportional approach and indeed I have condemned the use of terrorists by the Pakistani military to destabilise the region".The university on Wednesday released a statement, saying statements made by its faculty members on their personal social media accounts are made in their "individual capacity" and do not represent the varsity's opinion.