Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of Indian academic Ali Khan Mahmudabad, who was arrested on charges of sedition over a social media post. Aakar Patel, head of Amnesty’s India office, criticized the arrest, urging authorities to stop treating Mahmudabad as a criminal for expressing his views and advocating justice for victims of mob violence and alleged misuse of state power.
Mahmudabad, an associate professor and head of political science at Ashoka University, was detained on May 18 after posting a tweet referencing Colonel Sofia Qureshi, a military spokesperson praised by right-wing groups. In his tweet, he urged those same groups to also support victims of hate crimes and arbitrary demolitions.
The Haryana Women’s Commission accused him of “undermining national military efforts,” and a complaint was filed by a youth leader from the ruling BJP party. Amnesty labeled the sedition charge as baseless and part of a pattern of suppressing dissent in India.
