Zohran Mamdani's identity may seem complex but to Ugandans he is simply their own son'

"With a Sikh Indian surname and an indigenous Ugandan first name, Singh is no rarity in the Ugandan capital, where people of Indian descent have lived for more than 125 years. Many people here boast a multi-hyphenated African Indian identity as indeed does the Zohran Kwame Mamdani, the 33-year-old running for mayor of New York City. Mamdani who made shock waves this summer when he defeated Andrew Cuomo to win the Democratic primary,"

"In July Mamdani even returned here for his marriage ceremony, a sprawling three-day affair in Kampala. The same month, the New York Times reported that an anonymous source alleged to be Jordan Lasker, a well-known eugenicist and neo-Nazi had hacked internal data showing that on an application to Columbia University in 2009, Mamdani had identified his race as both Asian and Black or African American. The story sparked outrage from some critics who alleged Mamdani was weaponising identity politics."

Kampala hosts long-established communities of Indian descent who have lived there for more than 125 years and commonly adopt multi-hyphenated African Indian identities. Katongole Singh, bearing a Sikh Indian surname and an indigenous Ugandan first name, campaigned visibly alongside President Yoweri Museveni. Zohran Kwame Mamdani was born in Uganda, moved to New York as a child, and won the Democratic primary for New York mayor after defeating Andrew Cuomo. An anonymous leak claimed Mamdani had identified his race as both Asian and Black on a 2009 Columbia application, prompting critics to allege identity manipulation. Mamdani said he had ticked constrained boxes to capture the fullness of his background and described himself as an American born in Africa. In Kampala, people of Indian descent are considered African by both indigenous Ugandans and by themselves.

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