Latest news with #anti-Muslim
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Mira Nair' son Zohran Mamdani: Inside the love story of NYC Mayor candidate and his wife Rama Dawuji
As the New York mayoral election heats up, tensions are running high—and so is the spotlight on unexpected candidates. Among them is Zohran Mamdani, the son of acclaimed filmmaker , who has gone from underdog to serious contender in the race for City Hall. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now His rapid rise has stirred the political pot, drawing both admiration and ire—including from far-right activist and Donald Trump loyalist Laura Loomer. Loomer, known for her inflammatory posts and failed congressional bid, recently lashed out at Mamdani on social media with a chilling warning: 'Get ready for another 9/11.' In her post, she labeled Mamdani a 'pro-HAMAS Muslim socialist' and raised alarm over his growing popularity, tapping into anti-Muslim fear-mongering that critics say is both dangerous and unfounded. As Mamdani's name continues to dominate headlines, curiosity about his personal life has surged—especially his relationship with his wife, Rama Dawoudji, a Syrian artist living in Brooklyn. With fame comes a deeper look into the people behind the politics, and here we will look at the love story between Mamdani and his partner Rama Dawuji The love story between Mamdani and Rama Dawuji Though Zohran Mamdani has kept his personal life largely out of the public eye, the rare glimpses he's shared speak volumes about the quiet, intentional bond he shares with his wife, Rama Duwaji. Until recently, Mamdani had only briefly acknowledged his relationship—mentioning in Interview Magazine that he had 'recently got married in a civil ceremony at the clerk's office.' However he recently shared photos from their New York City civil ceremony on Instagram, writing: 'Three months ago, I married the love of my life, Rama, at the City Clerk's office.' He continued, 'Rama isn't just my wife, she's an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms.' Tired of too many ads? go ad free now In the same post he also criticized the trolls for targeting her on social media for her views and art. He said, "Now, right-wing trolls are trying to make this race-which should be about you-about her." Rama Duwaji, 27, is a Syrian illustrator and ceramicist based in Brooklyn. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and VICE, often exploring themes of identity, displacement, and belonging. The couple got engaged and held their Nikkah—the Islamic marriage contract ceremony—on December 22, 2024, on a rooftop in Dubai, where Duwaji's family resides. The ceremony was described as intimate, with soft lighting, traditional attire, and a minimalist, modern aesthetic that reflected the couple's personalities. Wedding packages at the venue reportedly start at around $72 per guest, with a minimum spend of $2,700—though the celebration itself was far more about sentiment than spectacle. They later made their marriage official with a civil ceremony in New York City. In a GQ interview published in April 2025, Mamdani offered a personal detail about their connection, revealing that Duwaji has influenced his style—encouraging him to ditch skinny jeans and gifting him two pieces he wears daily: a Casio watch and a handmade ring.
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Weaponising water: India's destabilising role in South Asia
Listen to article India's aggressive and unilateral approach to regional geopolitics, exemplified by its suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), is a stark reminder of its willingness to prioritise hegemonic ambitions over regional stability. This weaponisation of shared natural resources highlights India's increasing disregard for international norms and raises critical questions about its commitment to sustainable and cooperative regional development. India also failed to present credible evidence linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam incident and instead used unfounded allegations to portray Pakistan as a scapegoat while rationalising its own escalating hostility. Such actions further obstruct dialogue and hamper regional cooperation. Meanwhile, Pakistan has consistently advocated for a fair and neutral investigation into the Pahalgam incident, showing its commitment to justice and transparency. Even in the face of aerial provocations and civilian casualties, Pakistan refrained from retaliation until it was left with no choice. India seems to be using unfounded accusations to strategically target Pakistan internationally and deflect from its internal issues, like human rights abuses in Kashmir and anti-Muslim violence in India. It much prefers hostility and dominance over constructive engagement and peacebuilding. South Asia is already one of the most water-stressed regions in the world, facing climate change, resource shortages and economic inequality. The IWT once ensured fair distribution of water between India and Pakistan, but India's decision to weaken this treaty now threatens Pakistan's agricultural sector, which supports over 70% of its population. Cutting water supplies worsens Pakistan's food security and hinders climate adaptation while also setting a dangerous precedent for powerful nations to weaponise shared resources. Such actions sow mistrust, making regional cooperation even harder. India's actions reveal a deep contradiction in its foreign policy. On one hand, it wants to be seen as a global leader in climate action and international cooperation, aiming to be a vishwaguru (global teacher). While on the other, its divisive regional behaviour reflects selfishness and power plays. This double standard damages India's global reputation and weakens its moral authority on climate justice and sustainable development. Global response to this crisis has been disappointing. While Pakistan's procurement of $1.4 billion from the IMF's Resilience and Sustainability Facility is a positive step for climate adaptation, India's IWT violation barely faces accountability. Global inaction sends a dangerous message: powerful nations can break treaties without consequences. This ultimately encourages similar behaviour elsewhere and weakens international systems. South Asia now stands at a crucial moment. The region can either continue down a path of conflicts fuelled by resource disputes or work together to find common solutions. The South Asian Water Security Initiative (SAWSI), building on the principles of the IWT, could promote fair water sharing, joint efforts to combat climate change, and better regional stability. But it can only succeed if India changes steps away from its current aggressive policies and takes on the role of a responsible leader, working for mutual trust and shared progress. Otherwise, water conflicts even risk causing global instability. Water has always been a symbol of life and growth, sustaining civilisations for millennia. Its weaponisation risks destroying that legacy and deepening divisions across South Asia. The international community must recognise the gravity of this crisis and hold India accountable for its actions, prioritising peace over political gain. India must also rethink its priorities and let go of its hegemonic ambitions, embracing a future built on collaboration and coexistence. Only then can it restore its credibility and ensure a more peaceful and prosperous South Asia.
Mint
2 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Attack Harvard to make America grate on its own nerves again
Imagine if China or Russia tried to destroy a US asset that generates tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars of economic value, plays a major role in American leadership in science and technology and turbocharges our prestige and soft power. We'd expect our government to go to war to defend it. But in attacking Harvard University, that's exactly the kind of damage the Trump administration is trying to do. Despite the school's failures and flaws, it remains a vital national asset—and the administration's actions are far more dangerous to America than they are to Harvard. Also Read: Mint Quick Edit | Harvard's stance is good for America When you tour the UK's Cambridge University, your guide will show you empty niches containing stone fragments. They're the remnants of statues smashed by Puritan fanatics during the English Civil War. But Cambridge survived and flourished. Universities are enormously resilient and count time in centuries, not electoral cycles. Long after the Trump administration is gone, there will still be a Harvard. But an America deprived of everything Harvard contributes will be far poorer and weaker. I have a stake in this battle: I spent seven years on the faculty at Harvard Business School and still teach in the Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Executive Fellows programme. But I'm also the first to agree with colleagues who say the university has fallen short of its ideals. Its own reports on antisemitism and anti-Muslim bias on campus contain devastating revelations about the school's inability to maintain an orderly and safe learning environment for everyone. Harvard should better protect its students—even, when necessary, from each other. It must guarantee freedom of speech on campus. And it should find ways to have more diverse political representation among both students and faculty. Also Read: Columbia missed the bus of academic freedom that Harvard took But the Trump administration isn't trying to fix Harvard. It's trying to control it via blatantly illegal tactics. Authoritarians have always feared universities because of their role as centers of dissent. It's not an accident that Ohio State and Yale University graduate, J.D. Vance, gave a speech titled 'The Universities Are the Enemy' in 2021. If President Donald Trump breaks America's oldest and wealthiest school, no other university and few institutions of any kind will dare stand against him. The administration's ostensible concern about antisemitism seems so obviously to be a pretext that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon's letter declaring Harvard ineligible for federal funding never mentions it, even as it attacks the school for giving fellowships to Democratic politicians. Three of the last four Harvard presidents were Jewish (including the current one), as is Penny Pritzker, chair of the Harvard Corporation, the ultimate authority over the university. This makes it an odd target for those whose primary concern is antisemitism. An administration sincerely concerned about the issue might start by not hiring multiple senior staffers with close ties to antisemitic extremists. Also Read: Barry Eichengreen: The end of American exceptionalism? Government control would destroy what makes Harvard—and any other school—valuable in the first place. Universities play a disproportionate role in producing revolutionary ideas because they embrace freedom of thought and dissent. Taking orders from politicians is antithetical to that spirit. Crippling Harvard, and along with it, American higher education, would be a grievous blow to the US. The university's contributions to American history and wealth are difficult to overstate. It has produced eight presidents and countless members of Congress, governors, Supreme Court justices, CEOs and entrepreneurs, along with more Medal of Honor recipients than any school except West Point and the Naval Academy. Over the last 20 years, Harvard founders have averaged nine unicorns—startups valued at more than $1 billion—every year. That's first among all world universities. And in just the last five years, companies founded by Harvard alums have gone public with a combined value of $282 billion. (I'll also note that a quarter of all unicorn startups have a founder who came to the US as a foreign student—exactly the population Trump is targeting at Harvard and other schools). Also Read: Is American exceptionalism finally on its last legs? Both the US economy and the country's international preeminence depend on primacy in science and technology. That leadership is under threat as never before: American universities, long leaders in basic and groundbreaking research, are falling behind. When Nature ranked the top 10 research universities in the world in 2023, eight were in China. Well, most of them are falling behind; Harvard was No. 1. If you really believe in America first, attacking it is the last thing you'd do. Then there's the university's global reputation, which functions as an emissary of American excellence. I once spent time as a visiting faculty member at Tsinghua University, China's MIT. While I was there, the dean would routinely bring visiting dignitaries to my office so he could show off the Harvard professor teaching at Tsinghua. (I used to joke that I expected them to toss me peanuts like an elephant at the zoo.) The school is also a powerful instrument for the propagation of US values. In the last 25 years, the leaders of countries from Canada to Taiwan have studied at Harvard. The next generation will look similar: The future Queen of Belgium is a current Harvard student, and the daughter of China's President Xi is an alumna. The global elite, in other words, pays for the privilege of sending their children to Harvard to experience the best of American life and be indoctrinated with American values. The attack on Harvard is really an attack on America. Harvard, like every old and important institution, including our nation, is far from perfect. But like America, Harvard is worth fighting for. ©Bloomberg The author is a Bloomberg Opinions writer.
Business Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Times
A weaker Harvard is a weaker America
IMAGINE if China or Russia tried to destroy a US asset that generates tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars of economic value, plays a major role in American leadership in science and technology, and turbocharges our prestige and soft power. We'd expect our government to go to war to defend it. But in attacking Harvard University, that's exactly the kind of damage the Trump administration is trying to do. Despite the school's failures and flaws, it remains a vital national asset – and the administration's actions are far more dangerous to America than they are to Harvard. When you tour the UK's Cambridge University, your guide will show you empty niches containing stone fragments. They're the remnants of statues smashed by Puritan fanatics during the English Civil War. But Cambridge survived and flourished. Resilient Universities are enormously resilient and count time in centuries, not electoral cycles. Long after the Trump administration is gone, there will still be a Harvard. But an America deprived of everything Harvard contributes will be far poorer and weaker. I have a stake in this battle: I spent seven years on the faculty at Harvard Business School and still teach in the Harvard Kennedy School's Senior Executive Fellows programme. But I'm also the first to agree with colleagues who say the university has fallen short of its ideals. Its own reports on anti-semitism and anti-Muslim bias on campus contain devastating revelations about the school's inability to maintain an orderly and safe learning environment for everyone. Harvard should better protect its students – even, when necessary, from each other. It must guarantee freedom of speech on campus. And it should find ways to have more diverse political representation among both students and faculty. But the Trump administration isn't trying to fix Harvard. It's trying to control it via blatantly illegal tactics. Authoritarians have always feared universities because of their role as centres of dissent. It's not an accident that (Ohio State and Yale University graduate) JD Vance gave a speech titled The Universities Are the Enemy in 2021. If President Donald Trump breaks America's oldest and wealthiest school, no other university and few institutions of any kind will dare stand against him. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up The administration's ostensible concern about anti-semitism is so obviously a pretext that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon's letter declaring Harvard ineligible for federal funding never mentions it, even as it attacks the school for giving fellowships to Democratic politicians. Three of the last four Harvard presidents were Jewish (including the current one), as is Penny Pritzker, chair of the Harvard Corporation, the ultimate authority over the university. This makes it an odd target for those whose primary concern is anti-semitism. And an administration sincerely concerned about the issue might start by not hiring multiple senior staffers with close ties to anti-semitic extremists. Government control would destroy what makes Harvard – and any other school – valuable in the first place. Universities play a disproportionate role in producing revolutionary ideas because they embrace freedom of thought and dissent. Taking orders from politicians is antithetical to that spirit. Crippling Harvard, and along with it, American higher education, would be a grievous blow to the US. The university's contributions to American history and wealth are difficult to overstate. It has produced eight presidents and countless members of Congress, governors, Supreme Court justices, CEOs and entrepreneurs, along with more Medal of Honour recipients than any school except West Point and the Naval Academy. Over the last 20 years, Harvard founders have averaged nine unicorns – startups valued at more than US$1 billion – every year. That's first among all world universities. And in just the last five years, companies founded by Harvard alums have gone public with a combined value of US$282 billion. (I'll also note that a quarter of all unicorn startups have a founder who came to the US as a foreign student – exactly the population Trump is targeting at Harvard and other schools). Both the US economy and the country's international pre-eminence depend on primacy in science and technology. That leadership is under threat as never before: American universities, long leaders in basic and groundbreaking research, are falling behind. When Nature ranked the top 10 research universities in the world in 2023, eight were in China. Well, most of them are falling behind; Harvard was No 1. If you really believe in America first, attacking it is the last thing you'd do. Global reputation Then there's the university's global reputation, which functions as an emissary of American excellence. I once spent time as visiting faculty at Tsinghua University, China's MIT. While I was there, the dean would routinely bring visiting dignitaries to my office so he could show off the Harvard professor teaching at Tsinghua. (I used to joke that I expected them to toss me peanuts like an elephant at the zoo.) The school is also a powerful instrument for the propagation of US values. In the last 25 years, the leaders of countries from Canada to Taiwan have studied at Harvard. The next generation will look similar: The future Queen of Belgium is a current Harvard student, and the daughter of China's President Xi is an alumna. The global elite, in other words, pays for the privilege of sending their children to Harvard to experience the best of American life and be indoctrinated with American values. The attack on Harvard is really an attack on America. Harvard, like every old and important institution, including our nation, is far from perfect. But like America, Harvard is worth fighting for. BLOOMBERG
Mint
3 days ago
- Politics
- Mint
Who is Laura Loomer? Donald Trump's ‘ally' who would love to find ‘excuse to block' foreign students
After saying "Joe Biden could die in the next two months", Laura Loomer is grabbing the headlines once again as she wrote about her "dream job " of "vetting social media accounts of foreign students". As US President Donald Trump's administration moved to block enrollment of foreign students at Harvard University, reports suggested that it is now expanding social media vetting of foreign students. 'The Trump administration is weighing requiring all foreign students applying to study in the United States to undergo social media vetting,' Politico reported earlier. Meanwhile, US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said, "...we use every tool in our tool chest to vet anyone coming in who wants to come into this country..." Amid such claims, Laura Loomer said that 'vetting on the social media accounts of foreign like a dream job for me.' She wrote on X, 'The White House is considering doing vetting on the social media accounts of foreign students. Sounds like a dream job for me. I would love to research foreign students all day and find an excuse to block them from coming into our country based on their radicalism. Sign me up.' Laura Loomer is a right-wing extremist and political influencer known for her controversial views and "incendiary" social media presence. Loomer, in her early 30s, is a Florida activist and unsuccesfull political candidate who once described herself as a 'proud Islamophobe'. The Guardian described her as "the white nationalist conspiracy theorist." As per the report, Loomer had spread conspiracy theories about mass shootings, including the Parkland school shooting in Florida. She is known for claiming the 9/11 attacks were an inside job. Loomer was also banned on some social media networks because of anti-Muslim and other remarks. According to reports, she has dubbed herself a 'proud Islamophobe". Earlier, she had said the 'White House would smell like curry' if Kamala Harris, who is of Indian heritage, were elected as the US President. Loomer sparred online with top Trump adviser Elon Musk over skilled workforce visas, the Associated Press reported. She has repeatedly argued that the administration's hires are being improperly vetted. Loomer also has a podcast called Loomer Unleashed on Rumble. It's a platform known for streaming far-right figures. Loomer has said it's her job to keep Trump on track. She has flitted in and out of the president's inner circle and claimed to be responsible for the firings of National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and other aides, the Associated Press reported. She twice unsuccessfully ran for Congress, in 2020 and 2022. Trump had endorsed Loomer in 2020, when she had unsuccessfully ran for the House in 2020, winning a Republican primary but losing the general election that year to Democrat Lois Frankel. Later, in 2022, she switched districts, narrowly losing another primary. In 2023, Trump praised Loomer, saying, 'You are a very opinionated lady, I have to tell you. And in my opinion, I like that.' Trump once also called her a 'strong person' and a 'free spirit.
