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New York: As New York City Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani emerges as a prominent contender in the race for the city’s 2025 mayoral elections, a past video of his remarks on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone viral on social media, drawing both criticism and support.

The resurfaced clip shows Mamdani speaking at a public event earlier this year, where he was asked whether he would consider sharing a platform with PM Modi, particularly in the context of Modi’s Madison Square Garden rally. Mamdani firmly declined the idea and offered a detailed explanation for his position, referencing the 2002 Gujarat riots and drawing a controversial comparison.

“This is someone who helped to orchestrate what was a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat,” Mamdani said in the video, referring to Modi’s role as then Chief Minister of Gujarat. “To the extent that we don’t even believe there are Gujarati Muslims anymore... And this is someone we should view in the same manner that we do Benjamin Netanyahu — this is a war criminal,” he added.

The comments have triggered mixed reactions across social media platforms such as X and Instagram, especially among Indian-American communities and political observers. While some praised Mamdani for taking a principled stand, others criticised the remarks as inflammatory and disrespectful to a democratically elected world leader.

Mamdani, 33, is the son of Indian-born Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed filmmaker Mira Nair. He is currently a Democratic Socialist and has represented Astoria in the New York State Assembly since 2020. Born in Uganda, Mamdani moved to the United States at age seven and became a U.S. citizen in 2018.

A first-generation Gujarati Muslim by heritage, Mamdani has long been vocal about international human rights issues, including his advocacy for Palestinian rights during his time at Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter.

His recent rise in the Democratic mayoral primary, especially after the withdrawal of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, has placed him in the national spotlight. He secured the Democratic nomination, Mamdani is expected to face incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, running as an independent, and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the November general election.

The final results of the Democratic primary are expected later this year. Mamdani has not issued any fresh statement in response to the viral video as of yet.

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New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.

Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.

At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.

Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.

According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.

The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.

At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it

The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.

Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.

Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.

According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.

Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.

Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.

Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.

He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.

DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.

Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”

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