Teachers Unions Organise a Joint Press Conference “against unlawful arrest of Dr. Ali Khan Mahmudabad and witch-hunt of public intellectuals”

On May 20th, Tuesday, academics across public universities of Delhi (Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ambedkar University, and others) banded together at the Press Club of India in New Delhi for a press conference supporting Professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad and contesting his arrest following a controversial Facebook post. The post had remarks on Operation Sindoor, which have been construed as unlawful based on the two First Information Reports (FIRs) filed against him. 

The joint conference was organized by the Joint Teachers’ Organisations, which include: AIPC, AIPSN, CTF, DTF, DTI, IAFN, INTEC, RSM, and SSM. Moderated by Dr. Uma Raag, representative of DTI, the speakers included Professor Surajit Mazumdar, Professor Dhiraj Nite, Professor Laxman Yadav, Professor Rajshree Chandra, Professor Anita Rampal, Professor Nandita Narayan, Professor Sachin Narayanan, Professor Shashi Sheikar Singh, and Professor Latika Gupta. Ashoka University Student Government (AUSG) President-elect Insha Husain (UG '26) was also asked to speak. 

In her address, Husain spoke of the first class she took with Khan, saying it made her feel as if “a space can be claimed by Muslim women like me in academia.” Husain asserted the student body’s solidarity and continued support for the professor. 

The scholars at the conference echoed one another’s sentiments in support of Khan, calling his arrest “unlawful.” Many attributed his arrest to the fact that he belongs to the Muslim minority, saying that Muslims in academia are subject to different standards than others.  “Unlike him (Khan), I'm not a Muslim. And I'm able to sit here, and talk to you, only because I feel the privileges of not being a Muslim citizen of this country,” added Professor Chandra, a Professor of Political Science at Delhi University. 

Speaking to academic freedom and freedom of speech, the scholars agreed that academic freedom and democratic freedom are bound to one another. They also added that freedom of speech is not a right reserved for the elite but the basis of all other rights. 

In terms of the validity of the charges, many of the scholars pinpointed a lack of understanding by the parties who had filed the FIRs against Khan’s initial facebook post—Professor Sachin Narayan of Delhi University cited the concept of "affective fallacy"—a literary error where the reader projects their own interpretation onto the speaker’s intent. Others referenced the fact that Khan’s post was signed off with “Jai Hind” and that there was nothing remotely misogynistic about his remarks. 

At the very beginning of the conference, opening speaker, Professor Mazumdar, spoke about the implications of not only Khan’s arrest but the uproar of support he has garnered from students, faculty, academics: “The real meaning of democracy is to achieve, to have a dialogue, to be informed on the basis of that, and to decide on the direction of the country. And that dialogue, that discussion, the process of learning of those people is being attacked when such actions are being taken against them.”