[Text/Observer Network, Xiong Chaoyi] According to a report by the Financial Times on May 19, Indian police recently arrested one of India's most famous Muslim scholars, Ali Khan Mahmudabad. The reason given was that he posted messages related to the recent India-Pakistan conflict on social media. In response, critics accused the Modi government of "violating freedom of speech," and supporters of the scholar also believed that this arrest action brought shame to India, which claims to be the "largest democracy in the world."

Currently 42 years old, Mahmudabad is the head of the Department of Political Science at Ashoka University. According to his colleagues, he was detained by police at his home in Delhi on the local time of May 18, and then taken to a police station in Haryana, northern India. On the same day, the local court ruled to remand him for further investigation and approved the police to interrogate him for two days. So far, the Indian authorities have not formally charged him.

The report stated that when Mahmudabad was arrested, India and Pakistan had a four-day military conflict this month. These two nuclear-armed neighbors launched a series of airstrikes and drone attacks against each other, leading to heightened nationalist sentiment domestically. Afterward, Mahmudabad posted messages on social media calling for an end to the war and criticized the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party led by Modi.

"War is cruel," he wrote in one post: "The poor suffer disproportionately, and the only beneficiaries are politicians and arms dealers." Additionally, in another post, he mentioned "the victims of mob lynching, the sacrifices under bulldozers, and others who have become victims of BJP's incitement of hatred," hinting at the "persecution" that the Muslim minority group has been continuously accusing since Modi took office in 2014.

Ali Khan Mahmudabad, photo illustration

It was reported that according to the legal precedent in India, ordinary citizens can file criminal lawsuits. Renu Bhatia, chairperson of the Haryana Women's Commission, and Yogesh Jatheri, a youth activist from the Bharatiya Janata Party, have already filed lawsuits against Mahmudabad.

Narinder Singh, deputy director of the Haryana Police, stated that Bhatia's lawsuit was filed under multiple legal provisions related to "disturbing public order" and "endangering (national) sovereignty, unity, and integrity," while Jatheri's lawsuit was based on laws prohibiting hatred between religious groups.

Last week, Mahmudabad posted on X platform that he was exercising his basic rights to "freedom of thought and expression," and viewed Bhatia's lawsuit as a form of "censorship and harassment."

Supporters of Mahmudabad condemned the arrest of their scholar, believing that it showed the "selective protection" of civil rights by Modi's Hindu nationalist government, which brought shame to the so-called "largest democracy in the world."

"This is obviously some form of political persecution," said Maya Mirchandani, director of the Department of Media Studies at Ashoka University: "Mahmudabad's posts did not differ much from those of many critics of the government."

The Financial Times pointed out that during this round of escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, India has been striving to highlight its own differences with Pakistan. Vikram Misri, India's Foreign Secretary, claimed during the conflict: "Pakistan would be shocked if they saw their citizens criticizing the government." He also claimed that the tolerance of such comments is a hallmark of any open, well-functioning democracy.

Pawan Khera, spokesperson for India's largest opposition party, the Indian National Congress, posted on X platform: "This is not about personal targeting; rather, it represents the gradual suffocation of free speech, the criminalization of dissent, and the use of state machinery to quell public anger stirred up by the BJP."

Nizam Pasha, Mahmudabad's lawyer, stated that his client was illegally detained and added that "the police did not provide any detailed reasons for the arrest." It is reported that the Supreme Court of India has received a petition requesting the release of Mahmudabad.

Kanchan Gupta, a senior official in the Indian government, stated that the arrest action was initiated by the local government and "has nothing to do with the central government." He added: "The political aspect involved is related to the state, not the central government."

The current escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan originated from a gun attack in the Indian-controlled Kashmir region on April 22, which resulted in at least 26 deaths and 46 injuries, with most being tourists. India accused Pakistan of involvement, claiming that Pakistan has long "supported cross-border terrorism activities." In response, Pakistan has repeatedly denied these accusations.

At midnight on May 7, the Indian Air Force launched an airstrike operation codenamed "Operation Vermilion," targeting nine locations in Pakistan and the Pakistani-controlled Kashmir region. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan confirmed that in response, Pakistan shot down five Indian aircraft. This was the first attack by India on Pakistan since 2019 and is considered one of the most serious clashes between the two countries in over twenty years. Pakistan also confirmed that Chinese-made J-10C fighters were used in aerial combat to shoot down Indian Air Force aircraft, including three French-made Rafale fighters.

On May 10, Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Dar announced that Pakistan and India had reached an immediate ceasefire agreement. Within hours after the announcement of this message, explosions were heard in both the Indian-controlled and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir regions that evening. Both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement but also called for maintaining the results of the agreement.

It is worth noting that after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, apart from scholars like Mahmudabad receiving "close attention," India also turned its矛head toward foreign countries.

"India is witnessing a wave of consumer-driven diplomacy," reported the South China Morning Post on May 16. Currently, Indian traders and the public are beginning to boycott Turkey and Azerbaijan in opposition to their support for Pakistan in the conflict. However, analysts point out that India lacks economic influence, making it difficult for such boycotts to effectively impact these two countries.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506373657866879528/

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