Issue 1816 Friday July 4, 2025
THE VOICE OF BRITISH ASIANS
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HERITAGE DESIGN:
ARCHITECT BRINGS
ASIA TO LONDON
MAMDANI SHAKES UP
NEW YORK POLITICS
INDIAN AMERICAN law
maker
Zohran
Kwame
Mamdani
last
week
clinched the Democratic
nomination for mayor of
New York City, defeating
former governor Andrew
Cuomo in what is being de
scribed as one of the most
unexpected results in re
cent city political history.
Mamdani, 33, a state as
semblyman
representing
Queens and a self-declared
democratic socialist, stands
on the brink of becoming
New York’s first Muslim and
Indian American mayor.
His win was announced
last Tuesday (24) , triggering
widespread reactions and
placing his progressive agen
da in the national spotlight.
“In the words of Nelson
Mandela: it always seems
impossible until it’s done,”
Mamdani wrote on social
media after the result. “My
friends, it is done. And you
are the ones who did it.”
Born in Kampala, Uganda,
on October 18, 1991, Mam
dani moved to New York at
seven with his parents, ac
claimed Indian filmmaker
Mira Nair and Ugandan aca
demic Mahmood Mamdani,
who is of Indian descent.
Mamdani’s social and po
litical awareness was shaped
by the cultural and intellec
tual legacy of his parents,
and would later influence
his entry into grassroots ac
tivism and state politics, re
ports said.
Mamdani is married to
Syrian American artist Ra
ma Duwaji and the couple
live in Brooklyn.
His strategy combined
grassroots mobilisation with
radical ideas aimed at trans
forming
the
economic
structure of New York City.
His message, focused on af
fordability, public infra
structure and working-class
empowerment, gained trac
tion with a diverse base
across boroughs.
“We have won from Har
lem to Bay Ridge,” he de
clared at a crowded victory
party in Queens. “This is
your victory.”
Among his most eye-
catching proposals are a city-
wide rent freeze for stabi
lised tenants, fare-free pub
lic buses, universal childcare
from six weeks to five years,
and the establishment of
city-owned grocery stores to
counter food inflation.
Democrats nominate Indian American for mayor as...
Continued on page 24
SPACE HERO:
SHUKLA’S SWEET
TOUCH FOR CREW
TEST TACTICS:
INDIA MAY REST
JASPRIT BUMRAH
P25
SURPRISE CHOICE:
Zohran Mamdani
addresses supporters in
Queens, New York City
P30
P23