"I Think Of Your Words": Umar Khalid's Partner Shares Mamdani's Letter To Him

Khalid's father, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, reportedly met Mamdani in early December during a visit to the United States to meet his daughter.

02 Jan 2026, 04:58 · NDTV

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Zohran Mamdani wrote a letter to jailed activist Umar Khalid expressing support and solidarity
Khalid has been in Tihar jail since 2020, charged under UAPA for alleged Delhi riots conspiracy
Khalid received provisional bail to attend his sister’s wedding and then surrendered to authorities

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Zohran Mamdani, the new mayor of New York City, has written a letter to former Jawaharlal Nehru University student and activist Umar Khalid, who has been lodged in jail for nearly five years in connection with the Feb 2020 Delhi riots, according to Khalid's family members.

The undated letter was shared by Khalid's partner, Banojyotsna Lahiri, after Indian-origin Mandai was sworn in as the Muslim and Asian-origin mayor of America's largest city. The 34-year-old is also one of the youngest to hold the office.

"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," the letter read.

Khalid was arrested in September 2020 and charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for allegedly conspiring to incite riots in Delhi. He has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail since then. Recently, the Karkardooma Court in Delhi granted him provisional bail to attend his sister Ayesha Fatima Syeda's wedding on December 27. He surrendered to the authorities on December 29.

Khalid's father, Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, reportedly met Mamdani in early December during a visit to the United States to meet his daughter.

Mamdani's Inauguration

Zohran Kwame Mamdani, son of acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair and Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani, has taken over as mayor of the largest US city, with a firm promise to rule "expansively and audaciously" as a "democratic socialist".

At the formal inauguration of his mayoralty on New Year's Day, radical Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders gave him the oath of office, declaring that his victory was over "the Democratic establishment, the Republican establishment, the president of the United States and some enormously wealthy oligarchs".

After taking the oath of office on the steps of City Hall, Mamdani vowed to implement the socialist policies he had espoused.

"I will not abandon my principles for fear of being deemed radical," he said.

He promised to bring back "the era of big government" to "improve New Yorkers' lives".

ALSO READ: NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani Vows To Govern "Expansively" In Inaugural Speech

"We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism," said Mamdani, who belongs to the Democratic Socialists wing of the Democratic Party.

His administration will be one that "never flinches in the fight against corporate greed and refuses to cower before challenges", he said.

He repeated his campaign pledges of free buses, free childcare from six months up, government-run shops, and a freeze on rent increases in housing regulated by the city.

"The billionaire class in this city and country have to get to understand that in America, they cannot have it all," said Sanders, who is among his mentors. "That America, our great country, must belong to all of us, not just a few. And that lesson begins today in New York City."

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