Indian Immigrant Mamdani, a Message of Humanist Socialism from New York City

Denpasar (Atnews) - Political economy observer, Jro Gde Sudibya, also an economist and a fellow at the Future Trends Center, stated that Zohran Mamdani, a socialist politician from the Democratic Party, is 34 years old.

Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim immigrant from India, won a political victory and was elected Mayor of New York City.

Mamdani was born in Kampala, Uganda, in a family of Indian descent, from a couple of academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair. His mother is Hindu, while his father is Muslim.

His family immigrated to South Africa when he was five years old, and then moved to the United States when he was seven, settling in New York City.

Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and from Bowdoin College with a bachelor degree in Black studies.

According to him, New York has been a symbol of global capitalism for more than a century, citing the global market on Wall Street, the United Nations Headquarters, the World Bank, the IMF, and many global financial firms headquartered there.

A symbol of the mighty civilization of global capitalism, a historic event has now occurred: the city residents have elected Mamdani, who is considered a "double minority" of ethnicity and religion, to win the political battle in the Republican-controlled federal government, the House of Representatives, and the Senate, with President Donald Trump as the main figure, using racial and ethnic issues as a political “weapon.”

As widely reported on social media, Mamdani, a Democratic Party politician from the socialist wing, in his political work, conveys a message about the importance of humanist socialism, the values of justice, and equality for humanitarian purposes.

Meanwhile, prominent Democratic Senator, J. Sanders, in a social media post, stated that campaign of Mamdani was supported by tens of thousands of volunteers who went door-to-door, citizen-to-citizen, about humanist socialist program of Mamdani.

This down-to-earth program, about a bureaucracy that serves the city residents, aligns with their hopes for equality and justice.

The news about the victory of Mamdani drew even more public attention because his mother, Mira Nair, is a renowned film producer and distributor of Bollywood films.

His victory raised a reflective question, in the context of democratic development in many countries, which are generally under pressure from authoritarianism and even totalitarianism.

“Many countries are experiencing a decline in the quality of democracy, flawed democracy, with a declining democracy index and a rising corruption perception index,” said Sudibya in Denpasar, Saturday (Nov 8).

In the context of New Yorkers, global capitalism, long considered a prime system, has proven incapable of fulfilling sense of justice of its citizens.

A sense of justice suppressed for so long can lead to “punishment” in the voting booth, as recently occurred in New York. It can also give rise to “people power,” as recently occurred in Madagascar, Nepal, and previously in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Learning from the rapid progress of China and India, political elites must be capable of designing political systems, appropriate political cultures, and appropriate leadership in line with the demands of the times.

Nation-states that fail to develop systems, political cultures, and leadership recruitment should be prepared to experience prolonged political tensions with the potential for social revolution, as recently experienced by Nepal.

The Prime Minister was ousted by the people, parliament was dissolved, and then a Supreme Court justice with a reputation for upholding the law was elected as an interim leader.

The victory of Mamdani was described as a message of humanist socialism to the global community, which is marked by income inequality, social injustice, and environmental injustice. (Z/001)