Long before his victory in the 2025 New York City mayoral election, Zohran Mamdani, now one of the most powerful Muslim politicians in the United States, took part in a controversial anti-India event where he read a letter written by Umar Khalid, the jailed student leader and accused conspirator in the 2020 Delhi riots.
The event, titled “Howdy, Democracy?!”, was held in June 2023 in New York, just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to Washington D.C. The programme was framed as a discussion on the “state of democracy and civil liberties in India,” featuring activists and academics known for their criticism of the Indian government.
Introducing the reading, Mamdani told the audience, “I’m going to be reading a letter from Umar Khalid, who is a scholar and a former student activist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi… who organised a campaign against lynching and hate. He has been in jail for more than 1,000 days under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and has yet to face trial, though his bail application has been repeatedly denied. He has also faced an assassination attempt.”
He then proceeded to read excerpts from Khalid’s prison writings, first published in Outlook magazine. The letter, titled “The Sight of Free People,” described Khalid’s reflections while being taken to court from Delhi’s Tihar Jail and his thoughts on “reclaiming the country from the forces of hate and divisions.”
Khalid’s letter read in part: “After four months of captivity, the sight outside was more alluring for me… I could see people going to their offices and children to their schools. There were people in cars, buses, and on roads… They were free to go wherever, talk to whomever. It was a fascinating sight — the sight of free people.”
In another passage, Khalid wrote, “No tyrant lasts forever. He cannot trump the truth, and hate can never triumph over love forever.”
The reading drew applause from sections of the audience but also sharp criticism online, with commentators accusing Mamdani of glorifying an accused instigator of one of India’s most violent communal riots. Khalid, a former JNU student leader, was arrested in September 2020 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly delivering inflammatory speeches and conspiring to incite violence during the Delhi riots, which left over 50 people dead. He and the other accused Sharjeel Imam have allegedly been stalling the trial in courts, and the Supreme Court is currently hearing his plea.
Mamdani, whose father is of Gujarati origin, has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government – he even called PM Modi a “war criminal“. Earlier this year, he courted controversy for comparing Modi to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and invoking the 2002 Gujarat riots when asked whether he would appear alongside Modi during the Indian leader’s Madison Square Garden rally.
The 2023 event and Mamdani’s participation resurfaced in public discussion after his mayoral victory, with critics alleging that his political activism has long been aligned with far-left and anti-India circles in the United States.
(Source: The Telegraph Online)
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