"Standing With Our Jailers": Mamdani Under Fire For Celebratory Hijab Day Post

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's office posted a celebratory message on World Hijab Day, calling the head covering the "identity and pride" of Muslim women. The newly elected leader's post comes as young women in Iran have been protesting against compulsory hijab laws. 

Mamdani's Office of Immigrant Affairs posted, "February 1st is #WorldHijabDay! Today, we celebrate the faith, identity, & pride of Muslim women & girls around the world who choose to wear the hijab, a powerful symbol of devotion & celebration of Muslim heritage."

As women in Iran face arrest, beatings and death for wearing the head covering, critics have slammed Mamdani for the tone-deaf post.

An Iranian-American journalist, Masih Alinejad, criticised Mamdani's post and wrote, "Mr. @ZohranKMamdani, really? Right now? To be honest, I feel tortured in my own beautiful city of New York, watching you celebrate "World Hijab Day" while women in my wounded country, Iran, are being jailed, shot, and killed for refusing the hijab and the Islamic ideology behind it."

Alinejad came down heavily on Mamdani, writing that with that post, he was "standing with our jailers". She added that his silence paired with the celebration of the hijab was "shameful".

Mr. @ZohranKMamdani, really? Right now?
To be honest, I feel tortured in my own beautiful city of New York, watching you celebrate “World Hijab Day” while women in my wounded country, Iran, are being jailed, shot, and killed for refusing the hijab and the Islamic ideology behind… https://t.co/EW0GLq9I5n

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) February 4, 2026

Other critics of the Islamic Republic, such as French author and activist Bernard-Henri Levy, wrote, "World Hijab Day... How dare you?" She underlined the timing of the post and wrote, "How can the 'shining city upon a hill' celebrate the hijab at the very moment when thousands of women in #Iran are being jailed, tortured, and murdered for the simple act of refusing to wear it?"

Another critic and Middle East commentator, Dan Burmawi, slammed Mamdani's choice of words in the post and said, "They're either conditioned into it or pressured into it." He also recalled how his mother looked "alive, free and happy" after going out without a hijab once.

Speaking about anti-Islamic prejudices last year, Mamdani said that his aunt stopped taking the subway after the 9/11 attacks because she did not feel safe in a hijab. He made the remarks while speaking about "indignities" faced by New York's Muslims. He also recounted how he was advised to keep his faith to himself when he entered politics.

"These are lessons that so many Muslim New Yorkers have been taught," Mamdani said.

However, the hijab, a flashpoint during the Amini protests, is now being enforced selectively. Many Iranian women now openly refuse to wear it in public places, breaking with a tradition which has long defined the Islamic Republic.