Situating Zohran Mamdani and Caste Within Wider Diaspora Politics in the US
- Prisha Prabhuram
- Dec 2
- 5 min read
Zohran Mamdani’s win is being hailed around the world as a huge win for not only South- Asian politics but also as a win for a wider liberal - democratic political movement against the rising far right globally. By integrating and appealing to a varied immigrant population in New York, Mamdani appears to have united South East Asians under a banner, as evidenced by the establishment of popular support groups such as “Hindus for Mamdani”. Mamdani visited temple shrines, masjids and gurudwaras, uniting people across religions. Despite the wider appeal to a fairly diverse group of voters, the lack of specific focus on one major, fairly prominent political group stands out - that of caste.
It is easy to think of caste as a purely South-East Asian phenomenon that occurs due to a caste based system of hierarchy in India, Nepal and parts of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. But it is important to realize that migration does not mean caste is left behind. Caste shapes social lives, cultural realities and ways of life for people that migrants carry with them, like social baggage. Diaspora communities have continued to emphasize caste based endogamy, segregated living and other forms of caste discrimination that mirror realities in many urban Indian cities.
Dalit politics has always been prominent in US discourse and had sharply gained popularity in public discourse after the 2020 lawsuit filed by a Dalit engineer in Cisco against his upper caste managers, alleging caste based discrimination and hierarchy at work. However caste based discrimination in the US started as soon as Dalit people immigrated to North America. The first incident of caste based discrimination is from an early account of harm done to Dalits by dominant-caste immigrants within the community of Punjabi Sikh labourers on the west coast where Dalits were forced to eat and live in separate spaces. Alongside caste discrimination, there had also been the rise of Dalit politics within the public sphere. Historic organisations formed in the US include VISION (Volunteers in Service of India’s Poor and Neglected) which was formed in the mid-1970s in New Jersey where most Dalits lived. The Ambedkar International Mission (AIM) is another organization working among the US Dalits which was started in the year 2003 in New York and New Jersey. It is the most visible and organized organization of Dalits in the US today.
This historical Dalit politics has also been accompanied by the sharp increase in far right politics around the world, especially in the US. The growth of the right wing movement around the world, including movements like the RSS- led Hindutva movement in the US generally called the “American Sangh” have bolstered support for the dismissal of caste within the American sphere. The American Sangh did not interact with mainstream US politics until 2003, with the founding of HAF (Hindu American Foundation) led by M.S Golwalkar. In the process, HAF developed an American articulation of Hindutva that used rights-based language, all while framed in opposition to other communities’ civil rights. As an article details, “[m]ost Hindu right-wing groups echo a familiar idea from India, that after a few decades of affirmative action policies, caste is perceived as irrelevant. Conversations around caste, especially in places like the U.S. and the U.K., are deemed harmful to the “model minority” image of the Indian diaspora. In fact, some Hindu right-wing organizations have opposed even mentioning caste in American textbooks”. Some diaspora groups in North America, including those affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), are actively opposing efforts to criminalize caste discrimination by denying its existence or characterizing it as a colonial trope. For example, when California, the state with the highest percentage of South Asians, attempted to pass a landmark bill to outlaw caste-based discrimination , passed through several rungs of its legislature with a sizable majority. However, after months of protests and lobbying from Hindu right-wing groups, who form an influential political force in the state and had threatened to withdraw their support, Gov. Gavin Newsom succumbed and vetoed the bill. Similarly, The Panchjanya, an RSS-affiliated magazine, criticized the law that was passed by the Seattle City Council in 2023, calling it “Hinduphobic.” This point has been echoed by the Coalition of Hindus in North America (CoHNA), who have accused the anti-caste movement of racism and singling out Hindu Americans. In 2024, Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar introduced a novel resolution to get Congress to recognize “Hinduphobia,” which is described as “anti-Hindu bigotry, hate, and intolerance.” This year, in April, which is celebrated as Dalit History Month, Georgia introduced a similar bill in its Senate to formally recognize the term.
In 2019, when Steve Bannon added his name to the Republican Hindu Coalition, it was a watershed moment. Bannon’s approval signaled that the U.S. Far Right was opening up to its Hindutva counterparts. It was likely the first time the word “Republican” was expressed alongside the identity “Hindu.” This is what leads to the creation of the Indian Republican, an image that confounds me due to the inherent racism and increasing anti-immigrant policies in the US. Viral videos such as this video of an Indian man asking a black man for his ID and threatening to call the police on him, display this idea of the US Hindu Indian as one who is free from racism due to their politics. Just days before the presidential election, Trump had assured Hindu Americans that he would protect them from the “anti-religion agenda of the radical left. The subsequent spotlight on conservative South Asian figures in Trump’s orbit, like FBI Director Kash Patel and Vivek Ramaswamy, and celebration over the presence of Hindu Americans in the new administration. These instances raise the specter of much broader developments: the American Sangh’s pursuit of power through proximity to Whiteness, the possibility that racial politics within parts of the U.S. Far Right might be less rigid than assumed,and, consequently, the signs of an emerging Multiracial Far Right.
However Mamdani’s recent win showcases that there is also a multi-racial democratic coalition emerging. His ability to appeal to varied sectors and even Dalit people, despite not explicitly visiting any pro Dalit spot like he did with other groups, has led to the creation of a multi-racial alternative movement that is socialist and democratic in nature. Mamdani has previously appeared in a panel with anti-caste activist Prachi Patankar and emphasised the need for leadership from Dalit and marginalized caste communities to counter the rise of Hindu nationalism in 2021. In March, he co-sponsored a caste protection bill in New York state, which has been put on hold until next year. Dalit New Yorkers with Indo-Caribbean as well as South Asian backgrounds and been active in the mayoral election. Since the veto of the California bill, the visibility of caste has all but disappeared in the United States. If Mamdani, as mayor, takes Dalits’ voices into account for his vision for the city, it could offer the movement around caste a necessary bulwark to resist the ongoing attacks from the Hindu right, especially now that they have openly attacked Mamdani over his support of the caste protection bill. Mamdani’s win therefore, does not only signify a wider win for South-East Asian democratic politics that is anti-Hindutva but also points towards a slow development of a multi-racial democratic left.