It began with biryani. In an image that has since become iconic, a young Zohran Mamdani sits on the floor, eating biryani with his hands alongside neighbours. For many in the Global South — including in Pakistan — it's an instantly familiar scene, evoking community, humility and pride. But in the meticulously managed world of New York City politics, it was a quiet, radical act. It signaled that Mamdani would bring not only a different face to American politics, but a different kind of politics altogether.

At a time when American institutions superficially celebrate diversity, Mamdani's story exposes the narrow boundaries of what kind of difference is truly welcome. His landslide victory in the primary in New York, backed by a broad, working-class, multiracial coalition in Queens, should have been hailed as a triumph of democratic pluralism. Instead, it triggered a wave of smear campaigns, Islamophobic insinuations and racially coded attacks from right-wing forces and centrist liberals alike.

Why? Because Mamdani represents a kind of politics that threatens the American establishment. The son of Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and Indian filmmaker Mira Nair, Zohran brings to public life a deeply rooted understanding of empire, colonialism and resistance. He's not merely a brown face in the room — he's a........

© The Express Tribune