Haryana women panel issues notice to Ashoka University professor over remarks on Operation Sindoor

NEW DELHI: The Haryana State Commission for Women has sent a notice to an associate professor of a private university over his Operation Sindoor remarks "disparaging women in the armed forces and promoting communal disharmony". The May 12 notice mentions that the panel has taken 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.Indian armed forces hit terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir in the early hours of May 7 under Operation Sindoor in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 22 people, mostly tourists.The commission said the remarks were in connection with Operation Sindoor and summoned Mahmudabad to appear before it in the matter.Mahmudabad's remarks have been annexed to the notice, and in one of them, he said that right-wing people applauding Colonel Sofia Qureshi should demand protection for victims of mob lynchings and "arbitrary" bulldozing of properties.The associate professor described the 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 said.The commission said an initial review of Mahmudabad's remarks has raised concerns about the "disparagement of women in uniform, including Col. Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and undermining their role as professional officers in the Indian Armed Forces".Wing Commander Vyomika Singh briefed the media last week alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Colonel Sofia Qureshi on Operation Sindoor.The commission said Mahmudabad's remarks reveal misrepresentation of facts with repeated reference to "genocide", "dehumanisation", and "hypocrisy", thereby attributing malicious communal intent to the government and the armed forces as well as inciting communal distress and attempting to disturb internal peace.It also saw the comments as attempts at vilifying military actions and the role of women officers in response to cross-border terrorism, potential incitement to public unrest, especially targeting communal harmony and undermining national integrity.The notice said the comments were a breach of ethical conduct expected of university faculty and the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, 2018.