'Respect Independence...Focus On Own Responsibilities': MEA Schools NYC Mayor Mamdani Over Umar Khalid Note

New Delhi: Days after New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani expressed solidarity with jailed activist and former JNU student Umar Khalid and wrote a letter to him, India on Friday appeared to disapprove of the note. 

Schooling Mamdani, India stated public representatives should respect the independence of the judiciary in other democracies.  

Reacting sharply to the letter, the Ministry of External Affairs on interference by Mamdani in India's affair, also termed the interventions as inappropriate and misplaced. 

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal hitting out at Mamdani stated, "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.”

What Mamdani's note read?

Indian-origin New-York Mayor Mr. Mamdani, after taking charge as New York City mayor on January 1, had handed over a handwritten note to Mr. Khalid when the activist’s parents met him in the U.S. last month. 

Khalid's friend Banojyotsna Lahiri had shared a photograph of the note 34-year-old Mamdani wrote to Khalid on social media platform X which read, “Dear Umar, I think of your words on bitterness often, and the importance of not letting it consume one’s self. It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you."

Newly sworn-in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has a history of advocating for Umar Khalid. In June 2023, while serving as a State Assemblyman, Mamdani participated in the "Howdy, Democracy?!" rally in New York. Held just before Prime Minister Modi’s U.S. visit, the event featured Mamdani reading excerpts from Khalid’s prison diaries to highlight the activist's prolonged detention.

Umar Khalid's Role In Delhi Riots

A former student leader at Jawaharlal Nehru University, 38-year-old Umar Khalid was arrested in September 2020 for alleged conspiracy linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, which killed 53 people. 

Prosecutors accuse him of being part of a broader plot to incite violence, allegations he has consistently denied. 

Recently, holding that their role was “central to the conspiracy", the Supreme Court on Monday (January 5, 2026) denied bail to activists Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 north-east Delhi riots. 

At the same time, the top court granted bail to some of the other accused in the case - Gulfisha Fatima, Meera Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, Mohd. Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmed. 

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