Mamdani declines call to halt Bhagwat’s MSG programme, cites limits on city powers

New York: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he does not back the planned RSS programme featuring chief Mohan Bhagwat at Madison Square Garden, but indicated that the city government may be unable to prevent it from going ahead.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mamdani said the event was private in nature and questioned whether the city had the authority to cancel it.

“I don’t support the rally, but I don’t know if the city has any jurisdiction on canceling a private event,” he said.

The Mayor’s response followed demands by a group of 61 civil rights, community, religious and advocacy organisations for Madison Square Garden to withdraw permission for the August 29 programme.

Mamdani said his opposition stemmed from his belief in a pluralistic and secular society. Recalling his family’s connection to India, he said the country he had come to know through them was founded on inclusion and equal belonging.

“I also stand here as the first Indian American mayor in our city's history, and my mother's family is all still in India,. The vision of India that I was taught by my family, and the one that I grew up being very familiar with was of a pluralistic society of a secular republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person who was from India,” he said.

According to Mamdani, the growing influence of movements that seek to define nations through exclusion was deeply troubling. He said he strongly opposed such politics, both as an Indian American and as the leader of one of the world’s most diverse cities.

The campaign against the Bhagwat event was joined by Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 10th Congressional District, City Council Member Shahana Hanif, and members of Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Dalit and Christian groups.

At a press conference outside City Hall, Lander referred to Madison Square Garden’s hosting of a German American Bund meeting in 1939 and said the venue should not host the RSS chief’s programme either.

Hanif said South Asian communities in New York had been affected by the ideology and violence they associate with the RSS.

Amin Zama of the Indian American Muslim Council said the protest was not directed at Hindu citizens or Hinduism.

“Our message today is not against Hindus,” Zama said. “Our message is against an ideology that seeks to define citizenship and national belonging through religious identity.”

(Inputs from IANS)