All India Muslim Jamaat National President Maulana Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi on Wednesday, 26 August criticised New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani over his remarks about an upcoming RSS event in the city, asserting that boycotting any personal programme — regardless of the organiser — 'is not right from a moral perspective.'

What Maulana Shahabuddin Said

Speaking from Bareilly, the cleric argued that since the event in question is a personal programme of RSS chief Dr. Mohan Bhagwat, calls for a boycott carry no moral or legal weight. 'Unnecessarily boycotting someone, a programme or attempting to boycott someone's event is not right from a moral perspective, and neither does the law support it,' he said.

He added that every individual has the right to plan and execute events according to their own viewpoint, and reiterated that even an RSS programme should not face opposition on those grounds. 'I don't think New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani should have opposed Bhagwat's event,' he stated.

Mayor Mamdani's Earlier Position

Mayor Mamdani had earlier indicated he did not personally support the rally but acknowledged uncertainty over whether the city held jurisdiction to cancel a private event. The RSS gathering had drawn attention and debate in political circles in the United States, with Mamdani's remarks adding to the controversy.

The Malegaon–Tipu Sultan Controversy

Maulana Shahabuddin also weighed in on a separate controversy involving the Malegaon Deputy Mayor, who placed a portrait of Tipu Sultan in his office, triggering political pushback in Maharashtra.

The cleric defended the move, describing Malegaon as a unique city where Urdu is embedded in public life — from road signs and shop boards to police post nameplates — making it, in his words, 'the only city in the whole of India that has kept Urdu alive.' He argued that honouring Tipu Sultan, who fought against British colonial rule, is 'not a crime.'

'They have done a very good and brave work,' he said, congratulating Malegaon's Municipal Corporation for the decision. He further characterised the display as 'a slap on the face of those who intend to weaken India and destroy the country's unity and integrity.'

Broader Context

The remarks come at a moment of heightened sensitivity around RSS-related events abroad and domestic debates over historical figures and minority cultural identity. Notably, a Muslim religious leader publicly defending an RSS chief's right to hold an event — and criticising an elected Muslim mayor abroad for opposing it — marks an unusual cross-ideological intervention. The statement is likely to reverberate in both Indian political discourse and diaspora conversations in the United States.