India slams NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani over letter to Umar Khalid: ‘Better to focus on…’

Zohran Mamdani (left) and Umar Khalid.

India on Friday criticized New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for a letter he sent to jailed activist Umar Khalid. At his weekly media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Mamdani should be respectful of judgments in other democracies and focus on his responsibilities as the mayor of New York. When Mamdani met Umar Khalid’s parents in December 2025, she gave them a handwritten letter.

Mamdani, a 34-year-old Democrat, wrote in her memo: “Dear Umar, I often think about your words about resentment and the importance of not letting it consume oneself. It was a pleasure meeting your parents. We are all thinking of you.” A photo of the note was shared on social media by Khalid’s partner Banojyotsna Lahiri. Responding to a reporter’s question on the issue on Friday, Jaiswal said: “We expect public representatives to respect the independence of the judiciary in other democracies. Expressing personal biases is not befitting of incumbents. Instead of such comments, it would be better to focus on the responsibilities assigned to them.”

Mamdani’s support for Umar Khalid first came to light during his time as a member of the New York State Assembly. During a protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States in 2023, Mamdani had read passages from Khalid’s prison diary and said the activist was being unfairly persecuted. Umar Khalid, 38, a former PhD student at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, has been in jail for more than five years in connection with the February 2020 riots in the capital in which 53 people were killed. He was recently denied bail by the High Court and his trial is ongoing.