HFHR on Mayor Mamdani’s Interfaith Breakfast: Sanctuary Must Be Lived, Not Just Declared
PRESS STATEMENT
Hindus for Human Rights on Mayor Mamdani’s Interfaith Breakfast: Sanctuary Must Be Lived, Not Just Declared
(February 6, 2026) Today, Hindus—including members of the Hindus for Human Rights NYC Chapter—joined faith and community leaders from across New York City at Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Interfaith Breakfast, standing alongside our interfaith partners to affirm a simple principle: New York must remain a sanctuary in practice, not just in name. We were especially grateful to be in community with religious leaders we love and trust, including Pandita Pratima Doobay; Sridhar and Rupa Shanmugam from Shaneeshwara Temple; Ravi Vaidyanaat from the Flushing Ganesh Temple; and Pandit Sanjai Doobay.
The gathering itself was a powerful expression of community and shared commitment. It was meaningful to be in the company of long-standing partners and fellow travelers from across our movements, including colleagues from JVP and JFREJ; the Very Reverend Winnie Varghese, Dean of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine; leaders from the Sikh Coalition and Interfaith Center of NY; and representatives from mosques and synagogues we have partnered with across the city. We were also grateful to see progressive elected officials who continue to show up for immigrant New Yorkers, including Brad Lander and Shahana Hanif, among others—underscoring that sanctuary is sustained through collective presence and shared moral responsibility.
We were also deeply moved to hear Hindu prayer offered by Pandit Uddab Bajagai Shastri of the Shree Krishna Pranami Welfare Society (New York)—and to feel the resonance of his “Om” carry through a civic space where policy, power, and public conscience meet.
At the breakfast, Mayor Mamdani announced new actions to uphold New York City’s sanctuary commitments and limit harmful federal overreach, including the signing of Executive Order 13. The order strengthens privacy and data safeguards, clarifies that federal immigration authorities may not enter City property without a judicial warrant, and directs agencies to review and reinforce compliance with existing sanctuary laws.
The City also launched a major “Know Your Rights” push through faith institutions—distributing multilingual materials meant to help communities understand and assert their rights during encounters with federal immigration authorities. In a moment when fear is being manufactured and weaponized, putting clear, practical information into trusted community networks is not symbolic—it is lifesaving infrastructure.
In his remarks, Mayor Mamdani turned to a Hindu moral vocabulary that is especially relevant now:
“In a moment such as this, I look to the Bhagavad Gita, which teaches us that the highest calling is to become someone who sees the true equality of all living beings and responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were their own… As ICE fosters a culture of suspicion and fear, let this city of strangers set an example for how to make the sorrows of others our own. Let us offer a new path — one of defiance through compassion.”
We hear profound alignment between that call and the work Hindus for Human Rights has been building through mandir outreach and community-facing “Know Your Rights” organizing—grounded in a moral orientation many of us learned early: the sacred duty to receive and protect the stranger, to treat the outsider not as a threat but as a shared responsibility. That "Stranger is God” framing is central to our KYR resources for communities— gathered here: https://www.hindusforhumanrights.org/kyr-resources
Hindus for Human Rights will continue working alongside interfaith partners across New York to defend immigrant New Yorkers, protect civil liberties, and resist the normalization of surveillance, intimidation, and political violence—wherever it appears, and whoever it targets.
View Mayor Mamdani’s full address HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlOcMpo06uY
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