Zohran Mamdani's Gujarat Muslim claim draws flak, called out for 'blatant lies'

Since the scintillating victory of Zohran Mamdani - son of award-winning Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair - in the New York City Democratic mayoral primary, an old video of him attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots and alleging that Muslims were eradicated from his home state of Gujarat has gone viral again. The remarks have drawn criticism not only from Indians, but from many in the nearly two-lakh-strong Indian American community in his constituency.

The 33-year-old, who is en route to becoming the first Muslim mayor of New York City, claimed last month that so many were killed in the 2002 riots that “people don’t even believe we exist anymore," while revealing his Gujarati Muslim roots.

His remarks came at a candidates' forum in the run-up to the mayoral elections, in response to a question about whether the mayoral candidates would appear alongside Prime Minister Modi during his visit to New York.

Mamdani even likened Prime Minister Modi to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming that Modi should be seen as a "war criminal" in the same manner as his Israeli counterpart.

In 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the decisions of the Metropolitan Magistrate and later the High Court to accept the top court-appointed Special Investigation Team's (SIT) clean chit to PM Modi and others in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots.

However, it was Mamdani's claim that only a few Muslims remain in Gujarat that drew criticism from several quarters, including Opposition leaders in India, who were quick to fact-check the far-left figure. Many cited the last published census data of Gujarat, according to which Muslims made up at least 10 percent of the state's population in 2011—amounting to six million.

MAMDANI GETS FACT-CHECKED

Leading the charge against Mamdani's claims, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, on Thursday, wrote on X: “When Zohran Mamdani opens his mouth, Pakistan’s PR team takes the day off. India doesn’t need enemies with ‘allies’ like him shouting fiction from New York."

Indian-American and New Yorker, Indu Viswanathan — who identifies herself as a liberal on her X profile — lashed out at Mamdani's "blatant lies," calling him "a projection of an illiberal, anti-intellectual left-wing authoritarianism that has sunk its teeth into progressive politics.

"I question his integrity because he blatantly lies, and he blatantly lies because he will be rewarded for lying. His lies fit neatly into a narrative that he can ride to the mayor's office. The ease with which people are willing to reduce entire groups of New Yorkers to immoral actors, unless we acquiesce to their narrative about us, is the kind of bullshit that no real New Yorker would or should put up with. Nor should anyone who believes integrity still matters in public life," she tweeted.

Calling out Mamdani for "years of indoctrination, misinformation, and venom," another Indian-American Sidharth, who calls himself geopolitical strategist on his X profile, tweeted, "As of today, there are over 6.8 million Muslims in Gujarat.

Political analyst, Omer Ghazi, pointed out that Mamdani's statements were “not only provocative and false, [but one that] insults the 6 million-plus vibrant Muslim population in Gujarat by denying their existence." "This shows Mamdani will lie through his teeth for his ideological goals," he added.

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