Zohran Mamdani’s 2023 speech reading Umar Khalid’s letter resurfaces online
_vb_56.jpeg)
New York: A video of Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected Mayor of New York City, reading a letter written by jailed Indian activist Umar Khalid during a 2023 event has resurfaced online, drawing renewed attention amid his recent political rise.
The incident took place at the ‘Howdy, Democracy?!’ event in New York, held ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the White House in June 2023. The programme focused on democracy and civil liberties in India.
Introducing the letter, Mamdani told the audience, “I’m going to be reading a letter from Umar Khalid, who is a scholar and a former student activist at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi… who organised a campaign against lynching and hate. He has been in jail for more than 1,000 days under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and has yet to face trial, though his bail application has been repeatedly denied. He has also faced an assassination attempt.”
The letter, from Khalid’s prison diary, was read aloud as part of a session highlighting concerns about dissent and human rights in India.
Mamdani, who is of Gujarati origin, has previously drawn criticism for his political comments on India. Earlier this year, he faced backlash for comparing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a separate public event.
When asked about the possibility of sharing a platform with Modi during the Indian leader’s Madison Square Garden event, Mamdani had referenced the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying such an appearance would not align with his stance on human rights.
Umar Khalid, meanwhile, remains in judicial custody. Arrested in September 2020 for allegedly making inflammatory speeches and being part of a conspiracy linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, he has spent over four years in prison without trial. His bail plea, rejected by both the trial court and the Delhi High Court, was listed for hearing before the Supreme Court on Thursday.
A video from 2023 from a gathering in New York ahead of the PM Modi's visit to the US in 2023 where Zohran Mamdani reads Umar Khalid's Notes from Jail. pic.twitter.com/yiGQCCgiyw
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) November 5, 2025
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
