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Key Points
BJP objected strongly to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s handwritten note to jailed activist Umar Khalid, calling it interference in India’s internal affairs.
The party also criticised a letter by eight US lawmakers urging bail and a fair trial for Khalid, linking it to Rahul Gandhi’s meetings with American politicians.
US lawmakers said Khalid’s prolonged detention under UAPA raises concerns about due process and international human rights standards.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday, 2 January 2026, reacted sharply to international political figures expressing concern over the continued incarceration of Umar Khalid, asserting that India would not tolerate any external interference in its internal affairs or judicial processes.
The party’s response followed two developments: a handwritten note by newly sworn-in New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani to Umar Khalid, and a letter by eight United States lawmakers to India’s Ambassador in Washington urging that Khalid be granted bail and a fair, timely trial.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, the party’s National Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said India’s sovereignty and judicial independence were non-negotiable.
“If any person supports an accused, comments on Bharat’s internal affairs, Bharat will not tolerate it,” Bhatia said. “Each Indian citizen has complete faith in India’s judiciary.”
He questioned the legitimacy of foreign leaders commenting on Indian legal matters. “Who is an outsider to question our democracy and judiciary? And that too in support of someone who wants to break India into pieces?” Bhatia said, adding that such actions were unacceptable.
The comments came after a handwritten note from Zohran Mamdani to Umar Khalid became public on 1 January 2026. Addressed “Dear Umar”, the note was delivered to Khalid’s parents during their visit to the United States in December 2025. A photograph of the note was shared on social media by Khalid’s partner, Banojyotsna Lahiri.
In the note, Mamdani wrote that he often thought about Khalid’s reflections on bitterness and the importance of not letting it “consume one’s self”. He also mentioned meeting Khalid’s parents and said, “We are all thinking of you.”
Bhatia also used the occasion to attack Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, alleging that Gandhi routinely meets “anti-India forces” during his foreign visits and encourages them to spread “falsehoods” about the country.
“It is not appropriate for him, as Leader of the Opposition, to have enmity with India and maintain brotherhood with George Soros and Ilhan Omar,” Bhatia said, adding that the people of India would not forgive such actions.
The BJP’s criticism intensified after eight US lawmakers wrote to Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra urging that Khalid be granted bail and a fair trial in accordance with international law.
The signatories were Democratic Representatives Jim McGovern and Jamie Raskin, along with lawmakers Jan Schakowsky, Rashid Tlaib, Lloyd Doggett, Chris Van Hollen, Peter Welch, and Indian-origin Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. In their letter, the lawmakers said they were concerned about the “prolonged pre-trial detention” of individuals charged in connection with the February 2020 Delhi violence, including Khalid. Independent inquiries have found no evidence linking Khalid to a violent conspiracy or any terrorist activity, the lawmakers’ letter states.
Reacting to the letter, BJP spokespersons and leaders alleged a connection between the lawmakers’ intervention and Rahul Gandhi’s interactions with American politicians. BJP leader Pradeep Bhandari shared photographs of Gandhi with US lawmakers Jan Schakowsky and Ilhan Omar from a 2024 meeting, claiming that Gandhi was part of an “anti-India lobby”.
Bhandari alleged that Schakowsky’s subsequent sponsorship of the “Combating International Islamophobia Act” in January 2025, which proposed monitoring Islamophobia globally and referenced India, showed a pattern of targeting the country. He claimed that those seeking to “weaken India, defame its elected government, and dilute anti-terror laws” often converged around Gandhi.
Neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Congress party has responded to the BJP’s allegations so far.
Umar Khalid has been in custody for five years in connection with cases related to the February 2020 northeast Delhi riots. He is being detained under the UAPA, with a chargesheet yet to be drafted. He was granted interim bail for two weeks to attend his sister’s wedding in December 2025. His regular bail plea is currently pending before the Supreme Court, where arguments have been concluded and the order reserved.
The BJP recognises Khalid as an accused in serious cases related to the 2020 riots, which left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. Khalid and several others, including Sharjeel Imam and Khalid Saifi, have been booked under provisions for alleged conspiracy.
Khalid’s detention has been decried by both domestic and international human rights organizations, calling him a political prisoner.
A simple question arises from BJP’s sharp response to the US lawmakers’ letter: if India can rightly condemn human rights abuses in neighbouring countries, do concerns for prisoners’ rights in India hold no standing?
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