'He's not firang': Mira Nair in limelight for using ‘slur’ toward Americans while talking about son Zohran Mamdani
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'He's not firang': Mira Nair in limelight for using ‘slur’ toward Americans while talking about son Zohran Mamdani")
File photo Photograph: (Reuters)
The interview is now being criticised because Nair used a few terms that some view as derogatory toward the United States.
The Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, the mother of New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, said in an old interview that her then 21-year-old son was "not an American at all." The old video has resurfaced, creating a buzz online. The interview is now being criticised because Nair used a few terms that some view as derogatory toward the United States.
In a 2013 interview, the filmmaker said about Mamdani that "he is a total desi". At the time, Mamdani was attending Bowdoin College, where he co-founded the school’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter and was pushing for academic sanctions against Israel.
"Completely. We are not firangs at all. He is very much us. He is not an Uhmericcan (American) at all. He was born in Uganda, raised between India and America. He is at home in many places. He thinks of himself as a Ugandan and as an Indian."
'Firang' is a term used in Hindu and Urdu for foreigners or Westerners.
But Mehek Cooke, an attorney born in India who serves as a GOP consultant and commentator, told Fox News Digital that the word is not "some harmless cultural term," but rather a "slur."
"It’s the word used back in India to mock outsiders, to say you don’t belong," Cooke said.
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This came amid a conservative campaign finance watchdog accused Mamdani's campaign of receiving donations from foreign donors. The Coolidge Reagan Foundation filed two criminal referrals, one with the US Department of Justice's Criminal Division and another with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, alleging that Mamdani violated the Federal Election Campaign Act and the New York Election Law by accepting contributions.
Based on the campaign finance records cited by the watchdog and media outlets, the campaign of Mamdani was found with nearly $13,000 (approximately Rs 11 Lakh) from at least 170 donors having addresses outside the United States. The donation also includes from his mother-in-law in Dubai. However, some of the funds were returned, while about 88 donations costing around $7,190 remain due.
Meanwhile, the US federal law bars foreign nationals from contributing to American political campaigns, with violations carrying potential fines or criminal charges. The watchdog alleged that Zohran Mamdani’s campaign showed a “systematic failure to comply” with campaign finance regulations.
