A group of eight US lawmakers has urged India to grant a fair and timely trial for activist Umar Khalid, who is accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case and has been in pre-trial detention for five years. Concurrently, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent a supportive note to Khalid. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strongly criticized both actions, labeling them as interference in India's internal affairs and questioning the locus standi of the US lawmakers and Mamdani. The BJP also alleged a link between Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and an alleged 'anti-India' campaign involving some of the US lawmakers.