Radical Islamist terror sympathizer and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani participated in the celebrations marking Pakistan’s Independence Day, praising the Pakistani-American community in New York just weeks after stating that he could not support any country that privileges one religion over another.
Mamdani attended the Allama Iqbal Community Center’s Mela in Brooklyn, organised to commemorate Pakistan’s Independence Day. In a post on 10 August 2026, he said, “Yesterday, I gathered with residents at the Allama Iqbal Community Center’s Mela to commemorate Pakistan’s Independence Day and honor the contributions Pakistani New Yorkers have made to our city. Today and everyday, we celebrate this community whose open arms, determination, and dreams for a better life have helped shape the city they call home.”
Yesterday, I gathered with residents at the Allama Iqbal Community Center’s Mela to commemorate Pakistan’s Independence Day and honor the contributions Pakistani New Yorkers have made to our city.
Today and everyday, we celebrate this community whose open arms, determination,… pic.twitter.com/LpcenigAJd
— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) August 10, 2026
The event was held ahead of Pakistan’s Independence Day on August 14 and brought together members of New York’s Pakistani community. Mamdani’s decision to publicly celebrate Pakistan’s national day reeks of hypocrisy given his own stated opposition to countries that give ‘one religion a privileged constitutional status’.
Pakistan, whose Constitution explicitly declares Islam the state religion, therefore presents an obvious contradiction to the standard Mamdani invoked when discussing Israel.
During a June 28 interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl, Mamdani was asked whether he supported Israel as a Jewish state after Karl pointed out that Israel’s Jewish character is embedded in its constitutional framework. Mamdani said he supported Israel “as a state with equal rights.”
When Karl pressed him on whether he supported Israel specifically as a Jewish state, Mamdani responded, “I believe that any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can’t tell you I support, whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else.”
Mamdani said his position was based on what he described as a belief in equal rights irrespective of faith.
That position directly contradicts Pakistan’s own constitutional framework. Unlike the standard Mamdani invoked to reject Israel as a state that privileges one religion, Pakistan’s Constitution explicitly establishes Islam as the state religion. Yet Mamdani has chosen to publicly celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day while condemning Israel for precisely the kind of religious preference that Pakistan’s Constitution enshrines.
Pakistan is formally an Islamic Republic, and its constitutional framework contains a number of provisions giving Islam a distinct position in the state.
Mamdani’s Position On Israel
Mamdani’s comments on Israel came after a series of Democratic primary victories by candidates aligned with the Democratic socialist movement, several of whom campaigned against US military assistance to Israel and in support of Palestinian rights.
When asked about the Democratic Socialists of America’s position on the two-state solution, Mamdani said, “The way I see it is equal rights for all people. And I think that that’s the truth for Israel. It’s the truth for any country in the world.”
He subsequently said that he supported Israel as a state with equal rights but drew a distinction between that position and supporting a state that privileges one religion.
His statement explicitly included Saudi Arabia alongside Israel as examples of countries whose religious character he said he could not support.
Pakistan’s Long Record of Terror Links
Pakistan’s record on terrorism goes well beyond allegations. US, Indian and Afghan intelligence assessments have for decades accused its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of using militant groups as instruments of foreign policy. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) were supported as anti-India proxies and linked to attacks such as the 2001 Parliament attack, 2008 Mumbai attacks and the more recent 2025 Pahalgam terror attack among scores of others.
Former US Joint Chiefs chairman Admiral Mike Mullen described the Haqqani Network as a “veritable arm” of the ISI. Osama bin Laden was found hiding in Abbottabad in 2011, close to Pakistan’s premier military academy. Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar operated openly for years, while Pakistan faced international pressure over terror financing and was repeatedly placed on the FATF grey list.
Pakistan denies state sponsorship, claims that more than 70,000 of its own citizens were ‘killed by terrorism’. These denials, however, do not erase the extensive international record documenting Pakistan-based militant networks and allegations of state protection.
A Striking Double Standard
Pakistan was created in 1947 through the Partition of British India, triggering one of history’s largest population transfers and widespread communal violence. It was established as an Islamic state, with its Constitution explicitly declaring Islam the state religion. East Pakistan was later subjected to a brutal military crackdown by West Pakistan before becoming Bangladesh in 1971, not to forget that the country has a long, documented record of terrorism – terror organisations operating from its soil with blatant state support.
Israel, by contrast, was reborn as a Jewish state in 1948 after thousands of years of Jewish historical, religious and cultural continuity in the land. Its establishment followed decades of Jewish immigration, persecution and the Holocaust. Within its first year, Israel faced invasion by armies from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.
Yet Mamdani has said he cannot support a state that privileges one religion, specifically applying that standard to Israel. He has nevertheless chosen to publicly celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day and praise its community.
The contradiction is stark: Pakistan’s Islamic constitutional identity and terror-linked record do not prevent celebration, while Israel’s Jewish identity is singled out as grounds for withholding support despite its ancient historical connection to the land and its history of facing military attacks by neighbouring states.
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