New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani visited two gurdwaras in Richmond Hill, Queens, as part of his outreach to Punjabi Sikh and Indo-Caribbean communities back in June 2025. The visits, followed by an afternoon of door-to-door canvassing, were part of his campaign earlier this year.
Mamdani is said to have joined local volunteers in canvassing across neighborhoods in Queens.
Yesterday in Richmond Hill, Queens @ZohranKMamdani visited 2 gurdwaras and a bunch of us canvassed all afternoon. Last push before Tuesday, let’s do this! #DontRankCuomo #ZohranMamdani pic.twitter.com/aCDF6AHZbC
— Sonny Singh (@IAmSonnySingh) June 23, 2025
However, a different video of Mamdani addressing a gathering at the same gurudwara is making the rounds on social media. In the video, he claims he is running for mayor because the present mayor, Eric Adams, supports Prime Minister Modi.
In the video he is seen saying, “And the reason that I’m going to be running against Eric Adams is because the city has become far too unaffordable for anyone who calls it home. And I know that many in this Gurdwara are facing the same concerns about how they can afford their rent or how they can afford their water bill or their electricity charge or their childcare, any which way that they need to survive. And this mayor has taken every opportunity to make life more expensive all while supporting Prime Minister Modi and an Indian government approach to violence for our community members. So, thank you so much for having me here.”
NYC candidate for mayor @ZohranKMamdani says he’s running for mayor because the current mayor, Eric Adams, supports the Indian Prime Minister Modi pic.twitter.com/IE9rjcKFUE
— Journalist V (@OnTheNewsBeat) October 31, 2025
Mamdani’s Modi Hatred
A self-avowed critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mamdani has repeatedly likened Modi to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, going so far as to call him a “war criminal” during a recent public forum. He cited the 2002 Gujarat riots as justification, failing to mention that India’s Supreme Court had cleared Modi of any involvement after extensive investigations.
In the video, he responds to the question “Modi is holding a rally in Madison Square Garden. He wants to hold a joint press conference with you afterwards reaffirming the strong bond between India and New York. Do you agree to the event?” with this response –
“No, and I just want to say something here which is that. My father, his family comes from Gujarat in India and his family is Muslim, I am Muslim and Narendra Modi helped to orchestrate what was a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat to the extent that we don’t even believe there are Gujarati Muslims anymore, and when I tell someone that I am, it’s a shock to them that that is even the case. And this is someone who we should view in the same manner that we do Benjamin Netanyahu, this is a war criminal.”
“We should view Modi the way we view Netanyahu. This is a war criminal,” says Indian-origin politician Zohran Mamdani in his campaign for New York Mayor pic.twitter.com/P6tzorEx5T
— Shashank Mattoo (@MattooShashank) June 7, 2025
At the above event, Mamdani stunned many when he claimed that “we don’t even believe there are Gujarati Muslims anymore,” attempting to present himself as a survivor of ‘erasure’ due to communal violence. His claim was not only inflammatory; it was false. According to the official 2011 Census of India, Gujarat had nearly 58.5 lakh Muslims, comprising 9.67% of the population. Today, that number is likely higher. His suggestion that Gujarati Muslims have been wiped out is both factually incorrect and dangerously provocative.
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