New Delhi, September 7, 2026

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has triggered a fresh controversy after handing a ceremonial 9/11 pen to his chief counsel Ramzi Kassem, a lawyer who once represented an Al-Qaeda operative held at Guantanamo Bay.

According to media reports, Mamdani used the pen on Friday to sign two executive orders ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks. One declared September 11 an annual “Day of Remembrance and Service” in New York City. The other sought to strengthen the city’s preparedness against future emergencies and terror threats.

After signing the orders at City Hall, Mamdani handed the pen to New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and asked her to pass it to Kassem. A video of the brief exchange soon went viral.

The gesture drew sharp criticism from families’ of 9/11 victims, political figures and commentators. Critics described it as insensitive to the memory of nearly 3,000 people killed in the 2001 attacks.

Reports said Kassem had represented Saudi national Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi before a US military commission at Guantanamo Bay. Al-Darbi pleaded guilty in 2014 to terrorism and other war crime charges related to the 2002 suicide bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg off the coast of Yemen. The bombing killed a Bulgarian crew member, injured several others and caused a major oil spill. Reports confirmed that Al-Darbi pleaded guilty to attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, terrorism and hazarding a vessel. He was later sentenced to 13 years. Media reports also highlighted Al-Darbi’s family connection to the September 11 attacks. His sister was married to Khalid al-Mihdhar, one of the Al-Qaeda hijackers aboard American Airlines Flight 77. The aircraft was flown into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Kassem is a professor at the City University of New York School of Law and founding director of its CLEAR legal clinic. According to officials, he has appeared before the US Supreme Court, federal appellate courts and military commissions at Guantanamo Bay. He also served as a senior policy adviser at the White House between 2022 and 2024.

Mamdani used the ceremony to remember the victims, survivors and first responders. The first order provides for moments of silence, memorial programmes and community service activities every September 11. The second creates an inter-agency team to update New York’s continuity and emergency-response framework. The administration presented the two orders as an effort to honour those who died while preparing New York to respond more effectively to future threats.

However, the message behind the orders has been overshadowed by the pen controversy. For grieving families, ceremonies associated with 9/11 carry an emotional weight that leaves little room for political misjudgment.

The episode also holds relevance for India, which has repeatedly suffered cross-border terrorism and witnessed international attempts to dilute responsibility for such crimes. Indian public opinion remains deeply sensitive to how political leaders and influential institutions respond to terrorism and the memory of its victims.

Mamdani’s gesture may have had an administrative explanation, but it drew attention away from the purpose of the ceremony. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 was meant to honour the victims and bring New Yorkers together in remembrance. Instead, the controversy over the ceremonial pen became the focus of public debate.

Only days earlier, Mamdani had opposed RSS Sarsanghchalak Dr Mohan Bhagwat’s “Universal Oneness Celebration” at Madison Square Garden, describing the organisation’s vision as exclusionary. Reports said he also acknowledged that the city might not have the legal authority to stop a privately organised event. The programme, centred on the theme of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, later went ahead with members of the Indian-American community in attendance. These two episodes have since become part of a wider discussion over Mamdani’s public positions.