A handwritten letter penned by newly sworn-in New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to jailed student activist Umar Khalid has gained traction on social media.
The letter surfaced right after Mamdani’s oath-taking ceremony on Thursday. The 34-year-old is the city’s youngest and first Muslim and Asian origin mayor of the city.
In the handwritten note which was handed to Umar Khalid’s parents, former JNU professor SQR Ilyas and social worker Naseem, in December while they were in the United States, the Democrat leader said, “We are all thinking of you.”
The note was shared on X by Khalid's partner, Banojyotsna Lahiri.
"Dear Umar, I think of your words on bitterness often, and the importance of not letting it consume one’s. It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you," Mamdani wrote in the note.
Lahirir said that the Khalid’s parents had visited the US before the wedding of their youngest daughter to meet one of their elder daughters who lives there. “They met Mamdani and a few others in the US and spent quite some time with him. That’s when he wrote this note,” Lahirir had told the Indian Express.
They had also met Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and Co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, Democrat Jim McGovern.
In a post on X, McGovern said, “I met with the parents of Umar Khalid, who has been jailed in India for over 5 years without trial. Representative Raskin and I are leading our colleagues to urge that he be granted bail and a fair, timely trial in accordance with international law.”
Earlier this month, I met with the parents of Umar Khalid, who has been jailed in India for over 5 years without trial. @RepRaskin & I are leading our colleagues to urge that he be granted bail & a fair, timely trial in accordance with international law. pic.twitter.com/tBIbG1aOwc
— Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) December 30, 2025
U.S. lawmakers also penned a letter where they demanded that India 'uphold the rights of individuals to receive a fair trial.' The letter was signed by Congressman Jamie Raskin, Senator Chris Van Hollen, Senator Peter Welch, Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Congressman Jan Schakowsky, and Congressman Lloyd Doggett.
Khalid, 37, was arrested in September 2020 for his alleged involvement in the Delhi riots and has been in Tihar Jail since then. He is a former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader and activist.
Delhi police arrested him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Indian Penal Code sections for allegedly masterminding the February 2020 north-east Delhi riots. He was granted bail last month for his sister's wedding from December 16 to 29. Before that, multiple bail pleas he appealed for, have faced setbacks.
In 2023, Mamdani, who was then a New York State Assembly member, read excerpts from Khalid's prison writing at the ‘Howdy Democracy’ event ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s White House visit.
“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,” Mamdani said at the event.
