Refuse to apologise for being Muslim, says Zohran Mamdani

Zohran Mamdani the Indianorigin democratic socialist pulled off a stunning victory in the fiercely contested New York city mayoral elections riding on an electrifying campaign to become the first South Asian Muslim and youngest in a century to helm the administration of the worldrsquos financial capitalMamdani 34 son of Indian filmmaker Mira Nair and Indianorigin scholar Mahmood Mamdani defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo who ran as an independent and Republican nominee Curtis SliwaAt his victory event Mamdani challenged US President Donald Trump targeting the Republican leaderrsquos threats to restrict federal funding if he won ldquoDonald Trump since I know yoursquore watching I have four words for you Turn the volume up To get to any of us you will have to get through all of usrdquo he saidHe also vowed to tackle economic exploitation in the city saying ldquoWe will hold bad landlords to account because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable taking advantage of their tenants We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxationrdquoMamdani continued ldquoConventional wisdom would tell you that I am far from the perfect candidate I am young despite my best efforts to grow older I am Muslim I am a Democratic socialist And most damning of all I refuse to apologise for any of thisrdquo He then described the city as one ldquobuilt by immigrants powered by immigrants and now led by an immigrantrdquolsquoSuper progressiversquoSupporters of Mamdani had gathered at Brooklyn Paramount in New York City Several Jews present in the crowd called him ldquoa friend of the communityrdquo despite Mamdanirsquos criticism of Israeli actions in Palestine There were lsquoFree Palestinersquo chants at the eventlsquoTryst with DestinyrsquoMamdani quoted Indiarsquos first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehrursquos famous lsquoTryst with Destinyrsquo address ldquoA moment comes but rarely in history when we step out from the old to the new when an age ends and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance Tonight we have stepped out from the old into the newrdquo Mamdani said recalling the words of Nehru on the eve of Indiarsquos independenceAnd so it begins says TrumpUS President Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to Mamdani with a brief post on Truth Social ldquoAnd so it beginsrdquo Trump wrote hours after Mamdani directly addressed the president during his speechHighest voting since 1969The New York City Board of Elections said that voter turnout in the election has surpassed 2 million for the first time since 1969Road to becoming New York mayorelectgtgt Mamdani moved from Uganda to NYC at the age of 7gtgt He will be sworn in as mayor on January 1 2026gtgt He beat former New York governor Andrew Cuomo by 181056 votesgtgt Zohran Mamdani will become the 111th and first Muslim mayor of New YorklsquoWhat a winrsquoMayor elect Zohran Mamdani right and his wife Rama DuwajiZohran Mamdani New York mayorelectlsquoAfter all if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him it is the city that gave rise to himrsquoDonald Trump US presidentlsquoTrump wasnrsquot on the ballot and the shutdown were the two reasons that Republicans lost elections tonightrsquoBill Clinton former US presidentlsquoWishing you success as you work to transform the passion of your campaign to build a better New YorkrsquoBarack Obama former US presidentlsquoItrsquos a reminder that when we come together around strong forwardlooking leaders who care about the issues that matter we can winrsquoJohn C Liu New York State SenatorlsquoItrsquos a beautiful night for democracy itself Here in New York we have elected a Mayor who truly understands what all New Yorkers have to go through on a daily basisrsquoSadiq Khan London mayorlsquoNew Yorkers faced a clear choice mdash between hope and fear mdash and just like wersquove seen in London hope wonrsquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever