By Zeenat Khan
An historic first win of course calls for celebration. It is doubly true in Zohran Mamdani’s case after his mayoral win of New York City (NYC.) A year ago, no one knew who he really was or what he stands for. As expected, his win has sparked nationwide reaction. Social media is buzzing with Mamdani’s praises. People from New York to Uganda to Orissa (now Odisha) to Bangladesh have gone wild. It is not only the U.S. media but the worldwide media coverage of this young man’s win that seemed like this was the only major noteworthy news to report on. After he was declared the winner on November 4, media frenzy was everywhere, and everyone was in party mood. I am not the cloud that dims the festive light but am here merely to share some of my observations. Mamdani’s win overshadowed two other major wins; Firstly, Democrat Abigail Spanberger became the first woman governor to lead the state of Virginia. Secondly, Democratic candidate Mikie Sherril was elected the new female governor of New Jersey. She is the second female governor in the state. Both cases call for a huge celebration. But the U.S. Media’s nonstop coverage of Mamdani dominated last Tuesday night from the other two elected governors getting a fair amount of media coverage.
I am simply amused by some Bangladeshi English daily’s continuous coverage of Zohran Mamdani. Feeling giddy with happiness, they are writing in a manner as if he is a son of the soil; one passionate piece after another beaming with delight. One overly enthusiastic team member of a daily uploaded a YouTube video in fake American accent to analyze why Mamdani won. One video was done in Banglish (Bangla with an English accent.) However, the videos were comical. If Bangladeshi dailies can get so excited over NYC’s newly elected mayor then my question is why can’t they endorse and promote a Bangladeshi upcoming young leader by giving him/her major coverage for their upcoming election? That will be good public service.
The sheer number of Bangladeshi people who are more interested in what’s happening in America than their own country is mind boggling. One particular newspaper was reporting in a way that working-class Bangladeshis in NYC had a huge hand in Mamdani’s win just because he lovingly mentioned that “Bangladeshi aunties” worked as volunteers during his campaign. What can I say? Bangladeshis are very sentimental in expressing their emotions. Zohran, I am sure had other South Asian, Jamaican, Dominican, Mexican, Haitian, Puerto Rican, Nigerian, and Indian “aunties” from Brooklyn and Queens who went door to door to ask for votes. The “auntie” phrase has caught on.
Indian media also overdid it with their coverage of Mamdani maybe because Zohran Mamadani is the son of acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair. She hails from the Indian state of Orissa where she grew up. Nair left Delhi University after a year before coming to the United States to continue her studies. Indian media acted similarly when Kamala Harris was running for the highest office (note: she doesn’t identify herself as an Indian), when Jhumpa Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize (she identifies herself as British American,) as well as Usha Vance (though she identifies herself as Indian American. According to US media, Usha embraces her roots and heritage.)
For the last few months we have heard relentless squabbles between different groups of people covered by the mainstream media about Mamdani’s race, and religion. Everyone who is anti-immigrant was questioning his political ideologies and relishing at the thought of his possible deportation by taking away his US citizenship. His pictures were deliberately altered by giving him a longer, fuller, and darker beard to make him look “scary,” and also to hint that he has some possible terrorist connection because of his pro-Palestinian views. His opposing team led by Andrew Cuomo took Mamdani through the ringers. Andrew Cuomo is the worst of the worst because he agreed with a radio interviewer a few days before the voting started that if elected Mamdani would support another 9/11!
A day after the election, this same Cuomo tried to be gracious by conceding defeat and sort of congratulating Mamdani and showing willingness to work with Zohran for his love of the people of New York City. The hypocrisy and the bad acting go hand in hand! That particular media clip made me feel sick about the nature of politics. Mamdani said it best in his victory speech: “that Cuomo’s name he is not going to utter again!” Similarly, the President of the United States put out a video message saying he is willing to help Mamdani when he takes office, but he has to show respect to those in the White House.
The American mainstream media is like a dog with a bone. With their endless stories they pursued Mamdani for months because of his religion and his background; more than what he plans to do if elected. Since I don’t live in New York City, I haven’t followed Mamdani’s election closely but know enough that he has made big promises to the voters.
Using a candidate’s religion the main focus in an election is routinely done in the U.S. We have seen it during the Obama campaign. He even had to produce his birth certificate that was issued by the state of Hawaii as proof of citizenship. With Zohran Mamdani, it was sort of a repeat of the old show. But this time it was done with much more vengeance that people of Muslim faith were made to feel uncomfortable once again.
In both cases, they picked Islam to denounce both the religion and the candidates. Only difference is: Barack Obama identifies himself as a Christian and Zohran Mamadani as a Muslim. As we all know Obama’s mother is Christian and father, a Kenyan Muslim. On the flipside Mamdani’s mother is a Hindu and father a Muslim from Uganda. But media and Republican politicians only emphasized the Islamic faith of the candidates. How can children in a two-religion household belong to one faith and ignore the other completely unless one of the parents converts? I never heard Mira Nair becoming a Muslim and why should she? I really do not believe in conversion though people do convert for various reasons. When two people from different faiths fall in love; one usually chooses to convert. The main reason is because it is a simple way to bridge religious differences for the purpose of marriage and to bring two families together.
The American media did not report a lot on two of the behind the scene principle characters who planned Mamdani’s campaign. One is his mother Mira Nair, and the other is his wife Rama Duwaji. Nair has been relentlessly campaigning for her son ever since he won the primary. Media accused Zohran of hiding his wife as she was not with him campaigning day and night. Mira Nair took to Instagram and other social media outlets to convince the “aunties” why they should vote for her son. Zohran’s wife and mother carefully orchestrated a campaign strategy and choreographed it for him to perform in a way that attracts the voters. A mother’s directorial ingenuity combined with his wife’s artistic skills was a tremendous help for Mamdani to reach out to millions.
And the result was that people responded overwhelmingly. Everyone took a stand against what the other candidates were offering. Most New Yorkers do not like Andrew Cuomo (who had to resign as New York’s governor in 2021 following an investigation by the state’s attorney general that found he had sexually harassed 11 women.) Apart from Cuomo (ran as an independent) people hardly knew the Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa. And the current mayor Eric Adams has been a lame duck for some time because of some questionable behaviors. All these contributed to Zohran Mamadani’s win to some extent.
During his mayoral campaign, Mamdani made no bones about his privileged upbringing. His father is a professor at Columbia University, and mother has made quite a few commercially successful feature films starting with Salam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding, Mississippi Masala, and Namesake that I have watched. I read that in New York City, the Mamdani family lives in a subsidized Columbia University apartment. Though as per media reports, Mira Nair owns an apartment in a posh and upscale neighborhood in Chelsea, NYC. The apartment situated among other luxury residential buildings is worth 2 million dollars.
Yes, Zohran Mamdani attended the Bronx School of Science and Technology (a highly selective, specialized public school.) But for college he went to Bowdoin, a private liberal arts college in Maine, where for an academic year the tuition is $71,000.
So when Mamdani says he has seen poverty up close; I take it with a grain of salt. Without a lived experience how can one say it? Understanding poverty goes beyond a simple observation. Living in poverty in NYC where rent is too high, and failing to pay monthly rent results in eviction is something someone from a fully privileged background will not simply understand. A pang of hunger in one’s belly is not understood by someone who eats three meals a day. Coming from an affluent background one’s reaction is subjective. Simply put, one has to live the stressful life of a poor in order to feel it.
I am by no means disagreeing that Zohran Mamdani is passionate, dedicated, has empathy, and had it in him to convince millions to vote for him. His charisma, upbeat attitude, and ever smiling face went a long way to win the voters over. They found him approachable, saw fire and determination in him. Most importantly, he has the desire to bring social change.
Zohran Mamdani is only 34. When overzealous young people with their ideas and enthusiasm want to bring forth change too quickly may seem excessive. To make life better for the ordinary and hardworking people will require time and patience. Pronouncing something and delivering positive results on the campaign promises are two different things. One of Mamdani’s campaign promises is to make public buses fair-free. Another one is: to make NYC an affordable place to live and work. Some people on a daily basis commute 2 plus hours to get to work in the city. To make these two promises possible will be a daunting task by itself. His other promises including “relentless improvement” along with rent freeze, universal childcare, and other needs of working class people will not be quite easy to deliver. He will need huge federal funding.
Mamdani seems driven as the day after his win he has already put together an all-female transition team which includes Lina Khan (former Federal Trade Commission Chair) and other women with work experience and innovative ideas. Like every other immigrant living in America, I am elated that Zohran Mamdani won. I wish him all the best in running The Big Appleotherwise known as the city that never sleeps.
Postscript: Meanwhile, I have been overwhelmed with text messages with catchy phrases like “New Yorkers allowed themselves to hope that the impossible could be made possible” after Mamdani’s win. The last one I got was from someone who was in an airport waiting for a flight and the message said, “A new day. Everyone is very hopeful and happy about Zohran. I think he is amazing. Wife is an artist and cartoonist. Very cool family. Dad is Muslim and Ugandan and mom Mira is Hindu, wife Syrian. Truly a multiethnic progressive family! People have hope for the first time in a long time. Everyone I know is celebrating.” I think I heard enough and decided to turn off the phone.
Zeenat Khan writes from Maryland, USA
8 November 2025
Source: countercurrents.org