New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has sent a handwritten note to former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Umar Khalid who is currently lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail. In his letter, Mamdani expressed his solidarity with Khalid and wrote about their past interaction.
Mamdani, who scripted history on Thursday by becoming the first Muslim and Indian-origin mayor of New York, handed over the note to Khalid's parents when he met them during their trip to the US in December 2025.
"Dear Umar, I think of your words on bitterness often, and the importance of not letting it consume one's self. It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you," the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist wrote.
The handwritten note surfaced on social media platform X.
Zohran Mamdani writes to Umar Khalid. December 2025. #FreeUmarKhalid#FreeAllPoliticalPrisonerspic.twitter.com/QTYe06cRp5— banojyotsna ... (@banojyotsna) January 1, 2026
According to Umar Khalid's partner Banojyotsna Lahiri, the jailed activist's parents were in the US December last year where they met several people including Mamdani.
"Umar’s parents — Sahiba Khanam and Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas — had visited the US just before the wedding of their youngest daughter to meet one of their elder daughters who lives there since she was not going to be able to attend. They met Mamdani and a few others in the US and spent quite some time with him. That’s when he wrote this note," HT said quoting Lahiri.
A Delhi court granted Khalid interim bail from December 16 to 29, 2025, to attend his sister’s wedding, subject to strict conditions including restrictions on movement, use of social media and contact with witnesses.
"Umar spent all his time at home as his bail conditions did not allow him to step out. But it went by so fast, as it had the two times earlier when he was out on bail. He had home-cooked food, which his mother often fed him, and he spent a lot of time with his nieces and nephews," Lahiri added.
Khalid was arrested in September 2020 for his alleged role in a larger conspiracy linked to the Delhi riots earlier that year. He was arrested under sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
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