Zohran Mamdani, the NYC mayoral candidate, was seen doing a temple run recently in order to woo the “Hindu” voters.
On 6 October 2025, as a part of his campaign, he visited Flushing, Queens, to offer prayers at the city’s two oldest temples and “reconnect with his Hindu roots” – this after being part of a mob that called Hindus bastards and denounced the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. That too he was found wearing his shoes within the temple premises.
Zohara Mamdani, this is sinister!⁰Today, you came to my temple , the most sacred place in the world for me and for millions of Hindus.⁰You used this holy space for your political agenda.
Coming to a temple is always welcome, but people come to pray.⁰Did you pray?⁰Did you do… pic.twitter.com/KKldkNPcyV— Vimal Patil (@proudhinduUSA) October 8, 2025
On one hand, he poses as a proud “Hindu-rooted Indian-American”, visiting temples in Flushing, Queens, and speaking of the values of Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, Holi, and seva. On the other hand, his record tells a starkly different story—one of anti-Hindu bigotry, sectarian agitation, and ideological extremism.
But one picture caught the eye of political observers.
The person marked in red circle is Sunita Vishwanath, a dubious activist.
In a video on Instagram, she wrote, “Im proud to be part of a group coming together as #HindusforZohran, especially because some of the attacks against Zohran are coming from hateful divisive forces in the Hindu community.”
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Now you must be wondering who Sunita Vishwanath is.
Sunita Vishwanath is the co-founder of Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), an organization with a misnomer, with ties to Islamist-linked advocacy group that regularly maligns India on global platforms. HfHR was established in 2019 alongside the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and the Organization for Minorities of India (OFMI)—two Islamist-linked advocacy groups. Together, these entities also formed the Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA), which organized protests against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Houston visit in 2019. Vishwanath is also associated with Women for Afghan Women, an NGO that has received funding from George Soros’s Open Society Foundation. She has been a vocal critic of the NRC and CAA, claiming that the policies render millions of Indians stateless and oppress Muslims.
Now we come to the main point of this article – the IAMC. Sunita in herself has accepted that one of her colleague is Tazeem Ansari of IAMC.
Who Or What Is IAMC?
IAMC is a U.S.-based lobbying group known for its anti-India stance, persistent campaigns to label India as a violator of minority rights, and alleged ties to radical Islamist networks including SIMI, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Pakistan-backed propaganda fronts.
To jog our readers’ memory, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi met with individuals linked to IAMC during his 2023 US visit. Concerns arose when Gandhi was photographed with Sunita Vishwanath, who is linked to anti-India initiatives like the “Dismantling Global Hindutva” conference. Vishwanath is associated with groups like ICNA (Islamic Circle of North America), known for ties to Pakistan’s Jamaat-e-Islami and promoting anti-India propaganda.
Reports allege that coordinators of Gandhi’s events, such as Tanzeem Ansari and Mohammed Aslam, are connected to ICNA and its affiliate organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood. ICNA has glorified Hizbul Mujahideen leader Syed Salahuddin, a proponent of Kashmir’s separation from India. Another coordinator, Minhaj Khan, is linked to the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), an anti-India lobbying group. IAMC has been accused of spreading fake news to incite communal tensions and lobbying against India in international forums.
IAMC had engaged US lobby firm, paying them USD 55K Dollars for Lobbying the USCIRF against India in 2013-14, during Dr. Manmohan Singh Govt itself.
(6/10) pic.twitter.com/OeT3YlbCge
— DisInfo Lab (@DisinfoLab) May 30, 2023
IAMC’s Executive Director, Rasheed Ahmed, also leads IMANA (Islamic Medical Association of North America), implicated for alleged misuse of funds involving links to Pakistani officials and terrorist organizations like Lashkar-e-Taiba.
IAMC’s Exec Dir Rasheed Ahmed is the Exec Dir of another Jamaat affiliated ‘charity’ front Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA), which exploited India’s goodwill & raised millions of $ during peak Covid in name of helping India & siphoned off all the money
(7/10) pic.twitter.com/wgfJ4nrTan— DisInfo Lab (@DisinfoLab) May 30, 2023
The IAMC is a problematic organization with links to Pakistan-based terror groups. It is known for peddling anti-India propaganda in the international arena and also lobbies with US leaders and bodies against Indian interests.
The IAMC had reportedly collected funds for the cause of Rohingya Muslims and used it to pay Fidelis Government Relations (FGR), a US-based lobby firm for getting India blacklisted by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
It is this IAMC which has been backing Zohran Mamdani’s campaign. The IAMC weekly human rights monitor from June 2025 spotlighted Mamdani as its “Defender of the Week.”
Awards To Leftist Journalists
In June 2022, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), claiming to be the largest advocacy organization for Indian Muslims in the US, awarded ₹3 lakh in prize money to several Indian journalists and media outlets through its Human Rights and Religious Freedom Journalism (HRRF) Awards. The winners included journalists from Newslaundry, The News Minute, The Caravan, The Wire, Scroll.in, and The New Issue Magazine (UK), as well as news portals Mooknayak and Article 14. The awards recognized reporting on issues like anti-conversion laws, persecution of Muslims during COVID-19, and human rights in Kashmir.
The IAMC has also been criticized for its links to Pakistan-based terror groups and anti-India lobbying efforts, including funding campaigns to blacklist India internationally. The organization has also been accused of violating India’s Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which prohibits foreign funding of media professionals.
Connection With USICRF
During a February 2023 IAMC event, USICRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck advocated for classifying India as a ‘Country of Particular Concern.’ He asserted, “The Indian government at the local, state, and national level continues to create policies that negatively impact Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities…Application of these policies has created a culture of impunity for national campaigns of violence against Muslims and Christians. The U.S. must designate India a country of particular concern. We at USCIRF continue to press President Biden and congress to do so.”
Stephen Schneck frequently attends events organized by the Jamat-e-Islami front, IAMC.
Connection With Banned Organisations
The IAMC is very intricately connected with organizations/Jamaat fronts such as ICNA, Justice For All, SIMI, IACSJ, etc. IAMC’s Sheikh Ubaid is friends with Abdul Malik Mujahid, who headed the Islamic Circle of North America, the US front for Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan. It also reportedly has links with the banned Islamist organization Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The IAMC’s activities raise serious concerns about foreign interference in India’s internal affairs and the misuse of platforms to incite communal tensions. It is imperative for the global community to recognize the IAMC’s true agenda and hold it accountable for its actions. India, as a vibrant democracy, must remain vigilant against such malicious campaigns and continue to expose the hypocrisy and dangerous intentions of organizations like the IAMC.
A Web Of Deceit
Zohran Mamdani’s campaign is not an isolated story of opportunistic politics: it is the latest chapter in a coordinated ecosystem driven by groups like the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), and their ideological allies. These organizations, long accused of anti-India lobbying, Islamist affiliations, and systematic vilification of Hindu identity, now find political expression through figures like Mamdani. His sudden temple visits and posturing as a “Hindu-rooted” leader serve as convenient optics to mask a record built on anti-Hindu, anti-semitic rhetoric and association with actors actively working against India’s and even broader US interests. Behind the photo-ops and platitudes lies a deeper network of influence — one that uses faith, identity, and misinformation as tools to infiltrate mainstream politics while advancing a divisive, pan-Islamist agenda under the guise of pluralism and rights.
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