New Delhi: Umar Khalid’s father met Zohran Mamdani in the US on 9 December and the newly elected mayor of New York expressed his concern.
“The first thing Zohran told me was that he always thinks about Umar — about his incarceration and the fact that he has still not received a fair trial,” said Umar’s father, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas.
Ilyas met Zohran at his office in New York while he was visiting his daughter, Zainab, in the city. Ilyas said it was Zainab who wanted to meet Zohran to thank him for reading excerpts from Umar’s jail diary two years ago at the Howdy, Democracy event in New York.
The event was organised ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s White House visit in 2023.
“It was a cordial 25-minute conversation in which I congratulated him on getting elected as the mayor of New York. I also met two more Congress senators who also expressed their solidarity,” Ilyas told ThePrint over a phone call.
The letter
During the course of the conversation between Ilyas and Mamdani, the latter reached for a pen and said that he wanted to write a letter to Khalid. It was the same letter that later went viral on social media.
“He wrote that letter on December 9 itself. But we wanted to release it on the occasion of him becoming a mayor,” Ilyas said.
The letter by Mamdani that is trending on social media reads: “Dear Umar, I think of your words on bitterness often, and the importance of not letting it consume oneself. It was a pleasure to meet your parents.”
Ilyas said he was in awe of Mamdani for the political stance he has taken and for remaining sincere to his religious and cultural identity throughout his campaign.
“Zohran fought against several odds in the face of tough opposition during the election. He did not hide his identity as a Muslim and an immigrant — he said it boldly,” Ilyas said. “Normally, people become apologetic after entering politics, but he didn’t.”
Khalid’s long-time partner, Banojyotsna Lahiri, welcomed the letter, saying it was heartening to see continuous solidarity pour in for him. “It is good to see that borders and prison bars have not stopped people from showing solidarity,” she said. “Those who fight for justice and equality stand by each other.”
Activism from jail
When Mamdani won the Democratic primary on 25 June, many of Khalid’s supporters started to see similarities between the two. With many even saying that Umar Khalid could have been India’s Mamdani if he were out of jail.
For Khalid’s father, such a comparison was heart-warming as both young men fought for the rights of their countrymen.
“Anyway, the government of India has not left any option for him except for political activism,” he said.
Umar Khalid recently got an interim bail for 14 days to attend his sister’s wedding from 16 December to 29 December.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
New york . Brace for the worst. Good luck. An elected mayor supporting openly a terrorist who planned to kill innocent civilians.