Haryana police on Sunday (May 18) arrested Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad under charges that point to sedition and for hurting religious sentiments complaint for his comments on India’s Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.

Two FIRs were lodged against Mahmudabad, one on the complaint of a Bharatiya Janata Party office-bearer and the other on the complaint of the Haryana State Commission for Women days after its chairperson had summoned the professor over his social media posts against warmongering following India’s Operation Sindoor against Pakistan. The police confirmed his arrest in a statement posted on X.

Watch The Wire's reporter Zeeshan Kaskar in conversation with senior journalist Omar Rashid, discussing what the arrest of Ali Khan Mahmudabad means and how the defamation charges against him put the constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech and expression at stake

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