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06-07-2025
NEW YORK: If he wins the general election in November, Zohran Mamdani could become New York City’s first South Asian mayor and the first of Indian origin but the same identity that makes him a trailblazer in United States politics has also exposed him to public outcry in India and within its diaspora.
Ever since Mamdani achieved a thumping win in the Democratic mayoral primary on June 24, his campaign has weathered a flood of vitriol, some of it coming from the Hindu right.
Experts say the attacks are a reflection of the tensions that have arisen between supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and critics of the human rights abuses under his leadership, particularly against religious minorities.
A number of those attacks have fixated on Mamdani’s religion: The 33-year-old is Muslim. Some commenters have accused the mayoral hopeful of being a “jihadi” and “Islamist”. Others have called him anti-Hindu and anti-India.
Kayla Bassett, the director of research at the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH), a Washington-based think tank, believes the attacks against Mamdani are a vehicle to attack the Muslim community more broadly.
“This isn’t just about one individual,” she said. “It’s about promoting a narrative that casts Muslims as inherently suspect or un-American.”
Backlash from Modi’s party
That narrative could potentially have consequences for Mamdani’s campaign, as he works to increase his support among New York voters.
Mamdani will face competition in November from more established names in politics. He is expected to face incumbent mayor Eric Adams in the final vote. His rival in the Democratic primary, former Governor Andrew Cuomo, has also not yet ruled out an independent run.
The mayoral hopeful has vocally denounced human rights abuses, including in places like Gaza and India.
That unabashed stance has not only earned him criticism from his rival candidates but also from overseas.
Members of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), for example, have been among the voices slamming Mamdani’s remarks and questioning his fitness for the mayor’s seat. BJP Member of Parliament Kangana Ranaut posted on social media, for example, that Mamdani “sounds more Pakistani than Indian”.
“Whatever happened to his Hindu identity or bloodline,” she asked, pointing to the Hindu roots of his mother, director Mira Nair. “Now he is ready to wipe out Hinduism.” Soon after Mamdani’s primary win, a prominent pro-BJP news channel in India, Aaj Tak, also aired a segment claiming that he had received funding from organisations that promote an “anti-India” agenda.
It also warned of a growing Muslim population in New York City, an assertion it coupled with footage of women wearing hijabs but some of the backlash has come from sources closer to home.
A New Jersey-based group named Indian Americans for Cuomo spent $3,570 for a plane to fly a banner over New York City with the message; “save NYC from Global Intifada. Reject Mamdani.”
Much of the pushback can be linked to Mamdani’s vocal criticism of Hindu nationalism and Modi in particular.
In 2020, Mamdani participated in a Times Square demonstration against a temple built on the site of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya that was destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992. He called out the BJP’s participation in and normalization of that violence. (Int’l News Desk)
