Lefty congressional nominee Brad Lander got blasted by protesters outside Madison Square Garden Saturday, where an Indian Hindu-nationalist leader — who was recently condemned by Mayor Zohran Mamdani — was giving a speech.
Lander attempted to join in on the demonstration against Mohan Bhagwat — chief of the controversial Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh nationalist group — but instead was embarrassingly heckled with antisemitic hate by his fellow opponents and was forced to move for his safety, video of the incident showed.
It appeared the former Democratic comptroller assumed the protesters would have supported his opposition to the RSS, but one fired-up demonstrator was seen screaming in Lander’s face, yelling obscenities like “F–k you Zionist balls–k,” making it clear that his support was not welcome.
Lander argued against the protester, telling him to “Bring it on,” and was later yelled at by other members of the group to “Get the f–k” out as they didn’t want any “Zionists” supporting their cause.
The Jewish Lander, who is the Democratic nominee for NY’s 10th Congressional district, has been critical of Israel, but has described himself as a “liberal Zionist.”
The large group of protesters opposing the nationalist called for the cancellation of the RSS leader’s event, citing concerns over its treatment of religious minorities, especially Muslims, while Bhagwat was addressing about 5,000 members of Indian American groups at the Big Apple venue.
Earlier this week, Hizzoner publicly declared his opposition to the event, labeling RSS ideology as exclusionary and contrary to the pluralistic views of the city — but admitted that the city didn’t have any jurisdiction to cancel a private event.
“It’s been incredibly troubling to see the rise of a movement that is predicated on an exclusionary vision of any country,” Mamdani said at a press conference Tuesday.
“The vision of India that I was taught by my family and one that I grew up being very familiar with was of a pluralistic society of a secular Republic that believed in the belonging of each and every person who was from India.”
Mamdani — who was born in Uganda to Indian parents — said his opposition to the Hindu Nationalist leaders was influenced partly by his family background but also as the mayor of a diverse city.
Signs outside the arena declared that “Modi’s India beats, rapes, lynches Christians, Dalits, Muslims & Sikhs,” while the controversial event’s website labeled the “Universal Oneness Celebration” bringing together the Hindu American community.
Peter Friedrich, 40, an independent journalist from California who has covered Hindu nationalism for over a decade, was at the protest and slammed Mamdani’s opposition to the RSS for being too weak.
“He should have actually named the RSS,” Friedrich told The Post. “I think that he mangled the moment to actually say something very strong.”
The US Commission of International Religious Freedom said the RSS, which is considered the ideological parent of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), “has been involved in acts of extreme violence and intolerance against members of minority groups for decades.”
But the RSS disputes any intolerance accusations and instead says it is a “Hindu centric civilisational, cultural movement,” whose goal is to “carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory,” including by uniting Hindus.
The Post reached out to Brad Lander, who did not immediately return a request for comment.
With Post wires
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