Renu Bhatia, chairperson of the Haryana State Women’s Commission, has been instrumental in the arrest of Ali Khan Mahmudabad, the Ashoka University professor who caused the storm with his social media post on the Operation Sindoor briefings.
Bhatia was one of the complainants in the Ashoka University professor remarks case and was responsible for first summoning Mahmudabad over his social media post surrounding Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh. Bhatia’s complaint led to the professor’s arrest and began a national conversation.
Mahmudabad, a political science professor at Ashoka University, was arrested on Sunday by Haryana Police at his home in Delhi. He was remanded to two days’ police custody after two FIRs were lodged against him, which include endangering India’s sovereignty and disturbing communal harmony.
Who Is Renu Bhatia?
Bhatia is from Srinagar and comes from a Punjabi-Kashmiri family that experienced the trauma of the years of insurgency in Kashmir. A firm BJP loyalist, Bhatia has been active in politics for almost four decades.
Bhatia, according to her LinkedIn profile, started her political career in 2000 as a municipal councillor in Faridabad and became deputy mayor. Even though she lost her 2010 election, she is still a strong name in Haryana politics.
The commission has done a lot of work including a major sexual harassment investigation into Jind district, which flagged more than 100 girls, as reported by the media.
In 2023 the commission also filed an FIR against O P Jindal Global University professor Sameena Dalwai for “outraging the modesty” of women students.
Bhatia’s Role In The Incident Involving Ashoka University Professor’s Comments
It was Bhatia’s suo motu action and complaint that sparked Mahmudabad’s arrest. The professor who is also a spokesperson for the Samajwadi Party had questioned how women officers were used in the government briefings related to Operation Sindoor indicating it was about political optics.
Speaking to the media, Bhatia said, “We visited the university to hold talks with the professor. I would have liked it if he had apologised, but he did not intend to do so. By not appearing before the commission, he proved that what he said was true. On the 15th, by not appearing or meeting us at his university, it was shocking.”
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