The external affairs ministry on Friday frowned upon New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani’s letter of support to jailed rights activist Umar Khalid, stating that expressing personal prejudices does not behove someone holding an office.

Mamdani’s letter to Khalid was made public by the activist’s family on January 1, the day the 34-year-old son of Indian-origin filmmaker Mira Nair assumed office in the US.

It also coincided with reports of eight members of the US Congress demanding bail for Khalid after some of them met his parents during a visit to the US in December. According to Khalid’s family, Mamdani had suggested they reach out to US legislators.

At the weekly media conference, ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was asked to specifically comment on Mamdani’s letter. “We expect public representatives to be respectful of the independence of the judiciary in other democracies. Expressing personal prejudices does not behove those in office. Instead of such comments, it would be better to focus on the responsibilities entrusted to them,” Jaiswal said in response.

In his handwritten letter on a ruled sheet of paper, Mamdani wrote: “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.”

When the letter was made public, Khalid’s father S.Q.R. Ilyas said that he and his wife had met Mamdani on December 9 during a personal visit to the US. “He asked what he could do for Umar…. He suggested that we could meet US Congressmen to request them to write to the government of India. We met Representative James McGovern and a few others later in Washington DC. He also gave a letter for Umar.”

House of Representatives members McGovern, Jamie Raskin, Pramila Jayapal, Jan Schakowsky, Rashida Tlaib, and Lloyd Doggett, and senators Chris Van Hollen and Peter Welch wrote to the Indian ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, on December 30.

While several Indian politicians celebrated Mamdani’s spectacular win against President Donald Trump-backed Andrew Cuomo, the Narendra Modi government did not comment on his election despite his Indian connection.