'Thinking of you', why did New York Mayor Mamdani write a letter to Umar Khalid, who is lodged in Tihar Jail?

News Topical, Digital Desk : New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has written a letter to jailed student leader Umar Khalid. Mamdani handed the letter to Umar Khalid's parents.

What did Mamdani write in the letter?

Zohran Mamdani wrote to Umar Khalid, "Dear Umar, I often think of your words in times of bitterness and how important it is not to let it get to me. It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you."

Zohran Mamdani, 34, who last year became New York City's first Asian American and Muslim mayor, handed the note to Umar Khalid's parents when he met them during a visit to the US in December 2025.

On Thursday, January 1, the day Zohran Mamdani was sworn in as mayor, Khalid's colleague Bunojyotsna Lahiri shared a photo of the note in a post on X.

Why did Mamdani write this letter?

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Lahiri said that Umar's parents, Sahiba Khanam and Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas, had gone to the US just before their youngest daughter's wedding to meet one of their elder daughters who lives there as she would not be able to attend the wedding.

Lahiri further said that at that time Umar Khalid's parents had met Mamdani and it was at that time that Zohran Mamdani had written this letter for Umar.

McGovern also wrote a letter

Congressman James P. McGovern wrote a letter to Vinay Mohan Kwatra, India's ambassador to the United States, expressing concern about the pretrial detention of individuals charged in connection with the 2020 Delhi riots.

In his letter, James P. McGovern wrote, "Authorities issued charges against Umar Khalid and other Muslim human rights activists, accusing them of inciting violence. Human rights organizations, legal experts, and the global media have questioned the fairness of the investigation and the legal process. Independent investigations conducted by reputable human rights groups found no evidence linking Khalid to terrorist activity."

McGovern further wrote that as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), India must respect the right of individuals to be 'tried or released within a reasonable time' and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

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