I didn’t want to write about the Democratic candidate in the New York mayoral election because there are other things happening in the world. But the reaction of the Indian mainstream media to Zohran Mamdani has forced me. So, it is therefore not my fault, let me make that clear.
Mamdani is of Indian origin. His mother is well-known and celebrated filmmaker Mira Nair and his father is scholar and writer, Mahmood Mamdani. Mira Nair is Punjabi, her films include Salaam Bombay!, and Monsoon Wedding. Mahmood Mamdani is Gujarati, from Uganda, and teaches at Columbia University in New York. Zohran is a Muslim and this is where all hell breaks loose in India.
Normally, the Indian mainstream media, remarkably low on self-esteem which is hardly surprising when you watch the rubbish they churn out as “news”, is desperate for Indians abroad to do well. They run around the globe, perhaps somewhat slower than Whatsapp Uncles because no one can beat them, searching for Indians who shine in some foreign land, preferably some land dominated by white people.
We had such a blast with Kamala Harris, for instance, or Rishi Sunak to some extent, and we are permanently excited about astronaut Sunita Williams. Does she prefer fafda-jalebi to haandvo level of excitement.
Look, look, an Indian here, an Indian there, an Indian hiding under that chair!
Sadly with Zohran, we have to choose between our enormous national pride and our hatred of Muslims. An NDTV anchor worries about whether the Statue of Liberty will now be covered in a burkha. Another popular TV person now with NDTV was excited about US Vice-President JD Vance’s Indian wife, Usha, but castigated Indians who were excited about Mamdani.
Right-wing Indians are not alone here; sections of the US have gone ballistic with rage:
But the problem in India is unique because it counters our desperate insecurity about insufficient people available for mindless hero worship. Mamdani has everything going for it, but that he is a Muslim.
And then, he hasn’t helped himself either. He is pro-Palestine, which is a no-no for the right-wing everywhere because unless you approve of genocide, you are unworthy. Remember that neither former US president Joe Biden and his Vice-President Harris found it in themselves to condemn Israel. Mamdani is also something of a “socialist” – by American standards – and that is a horror story for the capitalists, notwithstanding US President Donald Trump’s apparent love for Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
The most condemnable act by Mamdani as far as India is concerned is that in an old video clip, he is seen comparing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a war criminal because of the Gujarat 2002 riots. And in the same clip he says that people are shocked to hear that Mamdani is a Gujarati Muslim because people think that all Muslims in Gujarat were killed. Promptly, up jumps the misinformation brigade and stirs the pot by saying that Mamdani says that there are no Muslims in Gujarat. And that he is anti-Hindu.
And here’s a wonderful word salad:
The media cannot be blamed here, but purely for entertainment, I give you BJP MP and film star Kangana Ranaut:
The upshot is that from the USA to India, you can be a great Indian only if you’re not a Muslim with ideas of your own.
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.