A case that tests the boundaries of expression in India

Last week, India’s Supreme Court granted bail to Ali Khan Mahmudabad, a professor with the prestigious Ashoka University, who had been arrested for a social media post on India’s Operation Sindoor. On merit and law, the arrest itself was a gross over reach and completely unwarranted. And yet, the country’s top court did not quash the case. Instead, it went on to gag the professor from speaking on the matter, castigated him for “dog whistling”, confiscated his passport and set up a probe team of police officers to study his post.

What did Professor Mahmudabad even say? His original post, which the Haryana police called “seditious”, strongly criticised Pakistan and praised India’s military response. He went on to express admiration for Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, who was one of the main faces of the daily press briefings, and also said that right wing commentators who were applauding her should also “loudly demand that the victims of mob lynchings, arbitrary bulldozing and others who are victims of 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”.