Progressive newcomer 33-year-old Zohran Kwame Mamdani is the US Democratic Party candidate for the New York City (NYC) mayoral elections. He won the primary over former Governor Andrew Cuomo—the presumed favorite. Mamdani, a democratic socialist, surged to prominence with a grassroots campaign focused on the city’s cost-of-living crisis. Mamdani faces incumbent mayor Eric Adams in the final polls in November. Mamdani's mother is Panjabi origin film maker Meera Nair and he began the final leg of his campaign from the Sikh Cultural Society and Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center in Queens borough of NYC. If Mamdani wins he will join the list of at least six earlier Indian-origin mayors of US cities. Meanwhile, in Australia, the Shepparton-based dairy brand, led by brothers Surinder Singh and Jaspreet Singh has won six gold and nine silver medals at the Dairy Industry Association of Australia award ceremony. In the UK, on 23 June, Professor Jagbir Jhutti-Johal from the University of Birmingham was presented with the Sternberg Interfaith Gold Medallion for their exceptional contribution to faith understanding in the UK and beyond. In the US, Angad Singh won the National Speech and Debate Association's original oratory championship. In his speech based on his personal and the Sikh community’s experience in the US, Angad urged his listeners to go beyond prayers towards affirmative action. In other news, based on statistics released by the US Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), the North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) has expressed serious concern over the growing number of individuals, including Panjabis, detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). NAPA executive director Satnam Singh Chahal said ICE is currently detaining 56,397 individuals—the highest number since May 2019. Alarmingly, 71.7% (40,433 individuals) of those detained have no criminal record whatsoever. However, in its annual report, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has mentioned both: threats from Canada-based Khalistani Extremists (CBKE) and concerns over Indian foreign interference in recent decades. The report accuses CBKE of supporting or planning violent activities aimed at establishing an independent state of Khalistan in India’s Panjab region (earlier coverage).
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