Born in 1991 in Uganda to parents of Indian descent who had established themselves within the South Asian diaspora of East Africa, Zohran Mamdani later migrated to the United States. According to a recent BBC report:
“Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected mayor of New York City, is notable in many ways. He will become the city’s youngest mayor since 1892, its first Muslim mayor, and its first mayor born in Africa…. His ethnicity reflects the diversity of the party’s base. He hasn’t shied away from a political fight and has proudly espoused left-wing causes such as free childcare, expanded public transport, and government intervention in free-market systems.”
New York, like Karachi, is not only the largest metropolitan centre of its country but also its principal commercial and financial hub. The city epitomises ethnic and cultural diversity, shaped by successive waves of migration spanning over four centuries. Today, New York stands as one of the most linguistically diverse urban spaces in the world, with more than 800 languages spoken across its five boroughs, a testament to its global character.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, no single ethnic group constitutes a majority in the city’s population of approximately 8.8 million. Roughly 32 per cent identify as non-Hispanic White, 29 per cent as Hispanic or Latino, 20 per cent as Black or African American, and nearly 16 per cent as Asian. The city’s immigrant population, about 36 per cent of all residents, includes large diasporas from the Dominican Republic, China, Mexico, Jamaica, Guyana, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and the Philippines, among many others.
Religiously, New York is equally pluralistic. It is home to the largest Jewish population of any city in the world, estimated at around 1.6 million, representing nearly one-fifth of the global Jewish community. Christianity remains the largest faith overall, encompassing a wide spectrum of denominations, Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox, reflecting the city’s European, Latin American, and African diasporic roots. Islam is the third-largest religion, with more than 769,000 adherents, making New York the city with the largest Muslim population in the Western Hemisphere. There are also vibrant communities of Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and those identifying as non-religious or secular, each contributing to the city’s rich cultural mosaic.
This extraordinary mosaic of ethnicities, religions, and languages makes New York a paradigmatic example of the global city, a site where migration, capitalism, and cosmopolitanism intersect, constantly reshaping its demographic and political landscape.
Politically, Mamdani’s victory sends a powerful message at home and abroad. Despite being branded a “communist” by former President Donald Trump, who even threatened to cut federal funds as Mamdani’s popularity surged, the new mayor’s triumph reflects a revival of progressive politics in the United States. It has also resonated internationally, symbolising the capacity of diverse, working-class, and immigrant communities to forge political unity in the face of polarisation.
For Karachiites, Mamdani’s rise holds a mirror to their own city, another sprawling, multi-ethnic metropolis facing complex civic challenges. New York’s experience shows that addressing urban problems requires collective action, inclusive representation, and a shared civic vision that transcends ethnicity or religion. The lesson is clear: cities thrive when their diversity becomes a source of strength rather than division.
Karachiites are facing shortages of water, electricity outages and load-shedding, and a lack of basic civic facilities like health, education, transport, and leisure
Karachiites are facing a plethora of problems and issues while also enduring a double whammy: neglected by the federal centre on one hand, and deprived of many institutional powers under the 18th Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, as the provincial government of Sindh (led by the Pakistan Peoples Party) uses its majority in the provincial assembly.
Despite being Pakistan’s largest metropolis and its economic, commercial, and financial centre, Karachi contributes approximately 25 per cent to Pakistan’s GDP and generates around 35 per cent of the national revenue, making its economic impact unmatched for a single city. Its economy was valued at about US$164 billion (PPP) as of 2019, with more recent estimates from 2021 placing its GDP at roughly US$190 billion, accounting for 35 per cent of tax revenue. The city hosts major sectors like textiles, manufacturing, and heavy industry, which form the backbone of Pakistan’s exports.
However, in practice, almost every major infrastructure innovation from motorways to rapid-bus transit systems has been implemented in northern Pakistan first, in cities like Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar, before reaching Karachi. For example, the Lahore Metro Bus System (Pakistan’s first Bus Rapid Transit) was inaugurated in Lahore in February 2013. The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metrobus was launched in June 2015. The Multan Metrobus (another BRT) opened on 24 January 2017.
The Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system was inaugurated on 13 August 2020. Karachi's Green Line BRT, which became operational in December 2021, came later and remains incomplete (with Phase II extensions ongoing), with the city’s overall public transport ranked among the world’s worst due to chronic underinvestment. Meanwhile, although major motorway projects linking Sindh and Karachi are underway (e.g., the M-6 Motorway, whose foundation was laid in December 2022, and the M-9 Motorway, whose construction began in March 2015), the sequence of “firsts” in infrastructure has often bypassed Karachi despite its economic primacy.
Since the 1980s, the political elites have tried many solutions: supporting dictators in bids to attract funds for the city, making it part of intrigues and manipulations to support one government and play a role in the fall of another, empowering ethnic and religious parties in local governments, and enabling the PPP to succeed in installing its mayor. Still, Karachi faces a quagmire of infrastructural and civic challenges. The city is in a state of turmoil due to administrative neglect. Residents are struggling with the plight of poor governance and dilapidated services.
The city is struggling to manage waste, both in liquid and solid form, produced by industries and domestic sources, and roads are blocked, broken, and burdened with dust, industrial and domestic waste, and rainwater. Desperate over the inaction of the KMC and the provincial government, businessmen in a meeting with General Asim Munir complained about the dilapidated roads in Karachi’s industrial areas following the monsoon rains. In response, the COAS asked the Karachi Corps Commander to ensure that the road infrastructure in the seven industrial estates of the city is improved. Due to a lack of resources and the deprivation of many local body institutions, the management of a single city is divided among various authorities, which makes city governance difficult, as only 34 per cent of the area falls under KMC.
Karachi's economic development, financial power, commercialisation, and concentration of trade and industry in the city have the pulling power to attract people from the rest of the country. No doubt, Karachi is a mini-Pakistan: it represents the diversity of Pakistan in terms of ethnicity, language, religion, and culture. However, as citizens, all residents face common problems and issues that mirror those faced by Pakistan in various parts of the country. Karachi is one place where all these issues can be felt severely.
At present, Karachiites are facing shortages of water, electricity outages and load-shedding, and a lack of basic civic facilities like health, education, transport, and leisure. This demands a collective approach above the ethnic, linguistic, and religious divides to address the city’s problems and issues. Karachiites must learn from New Yorkers.