Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], August 27 (ANI): Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora on Thursday hit out at New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his opposition to an upcoming event featuring Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat in the US, saying that opposing someone is a democratic right but “muzzling their voice” makes a person “authoritarian.”
Bhagwat is scheduled to address the Indian diaspora at the ‘Universal Oneness Celebrations’ at Madison Square Garden on August 29. The event is being held during the RSS centenary year. Bhagwat has arrived in New York on Tuesday as part of a three-nation outreach tour covering the US, Canada and the UK.
Deora’s remarks came after Mamdani said he did not support the RSS event in New York, while acknowledging that he was unsure whether the city administration had jurisdiction to cancel a privately organised gathering. “I don’t support the rally, but I don’t know if the city has any jurisdiction over cancelling a private event,” Mamdani had said at a press conference.
Speaking to ANI, Deora said, “If I want to oppose someone, I have every right to do so. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to muzzle their voice. If you dislike somebody, you have every right to do that; that gives you a democratic right to do that. But that doesn’t mean you should ban someone from coming. If you’re doing that, that means you’re a classic illiberal. And that means you’re not a Democrat; you’re an authoritarian person.”
Yesterday, BJP leader Nalin Kohli had also questioned Mamdani’s opposition, saying it appeared inconsistent with his stated commitment to pluralism.
“I have seen New York Mayor Mr Mamdani’s statements in the media; he has spoken extensively on pluralism. But fascinatingly, while he invokes pluralism, he himself is taking a stand that he is not happy with the fact that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s rally should be held in New York,” Kohli told ANI.
“He has to make it clear – is he invoking pluralism for the sake of invoking it… He can’t have it both ways,” he added.
However, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy defended Mamdani’s stand, saying, “New York is a multi-religious city, where RSS’s theory will not work, and this is the reason they might oppose it.”
BJP MP Yogender Chandolia defended the RSS and said Mamdani himself had acknowledged that there were no rules permitting cancellation of the private event.
“Mohan Bhagwat is a big leader of a social organization,” Chandolia told ANI.
BJP MP Bhola Singh also backed the RSS, asserting that critics were making “incorrect and baseless statements” about an organisation involved in social service and nation-building for decades.
The New York mayor also referred to his Indian-American background and said he was deeply opposed to what he described as an “exclusionary vision” of India.
“I also stand here as the first Indian American mayor in our city’s history. My mother’s family is all still in India,” Mamdani said, adding that he was taught to view India as a “pluralistic society” and a “secular republic.”
Mamdani further said the rise of a movement based on an exclusionary vision was “incredibly troubling” and said his opposition stemmed both from his Indian-American identity and his position as mayor of a city committed to belonging and diversity. (ANI)
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