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"I am young. I am Muslim. I am a democratic socialist. And I refuse to apologise for any of these."

Zohran Mamdani's speech after winning the New York mayoral election, as with much of his campaign, was a masterclass in political communication. More than anything else, Mamdani's campaign deserves credit for overcoming one question posed by critics as well as sceptics: How can a Muslim candidate win in a city that witnessed the 9/11 terror attacks?

The importance of how this obstacle was overcome goes beyond Mamdani, New York or even the United States. It has a message for minorities who have been vilified and oppressed in different parts of the world,

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