The election of Zohran Mamdani as the mayor of America’s largest city, New York, against all odds, is a momentous event. The son of Indian parents – Mira Nair and Mahmood Mamdani – he is the youngest mayor of the city since 1892 and also its first Muslim and African-born mayor. Mamdani was unapologetic about his roots. He campaigned on a socialist platform in a city that is the centre of global capitalism. He stood up to President Trump when his own Democratic party was struggling to decide how to deal with him.

Mamdani’s victory is significant because he didn’t play down his Muslim, or migrant identity, unlike other political aspirants in America and other Western countries had done in the past. During the campaign, Mamdani called himself a proud Muslim and declared that he was proud

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