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India criticizes Mamdani over Umar Khalid letter
The Ministry of External Affairs said such interventions were inappropriate.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sat, 10, Jan 2026
- 00:22 EST
- 72
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and activist Umar Khalid. / NYC gov and WIkipedia
India on Jan. 9 rebuked New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over a letter he wrote to jailed activist Umar Khalid, saying public representatives should respect the independence of the judiciary in other democracies.
Responding at a media briefing in New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs said such interventions were inappropriate. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said expressing personal views did not befit those in office.
“We expect public representatives to be respectful of the independence of the judiciary in other democracies,” Jaiswal said. “Expressing personal prejudices does not behove those in office. Instead of such comments, it would be better to focus on the responsibilities entrusted to them.”
Mamdani, who took office as mayor on Jan. 1, wrote an undated letter to Khalid, a former Jawaharlal Nehru University student and activist currently held in Delhi’s Tihar Jail under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The letter entered the public domain around the time of Mamdani’s swearing-in.
In the letter, Mamdani referred to meeting Khalid’s family and expressed personal solidarity. “Dear Umar, I think of your words on bitterness often, and the importance of not letting it consume one’s self,” he wrote. “It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you.”
ALSO READ: Jayapal and other U.S. lawmakers petition for Umar Khalid's bail
The letter surfaced as eight U.S. lawmakers separately wrote to India’s ambassador in Washington urging action over Khalid’s continued detention.
Mamdani has previously spoken about Khalid. In June 2023, at a “Howdy, Democracy?!” event in New York ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U.S. visit, he read from Khalid’s prison writings and described his detention.
Khalid, 38, was arrested in September 2020 on multiple charges under the IPC and UAPA. Courts have denied him regular bail, granting only short interim relief, most recently to attend his sister’s wedding under strict conditions.
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