Zohran Mamdani, New York’s mayor, drew criticism online after his office marked World Hijab Day with a social media post praising the faith, identity, and pride of Muslim women and girls worldwide. The message quickly sparked debate, with some users accusing the city of promoting a symbol they see as restrictive rather than empowering.
One critic responded sharply, saying the post pushed them to speak out. They argued that erasing women’s faces from promotional imagery and celebrating the veil crossed a line, framing it as an endorsement of women’s confinement rather than a show of solidarity.
“February 1st is #WorldHijabDay! Today, we celebrate the faith, identity, & pride of Muslim women & girls around the word who choose to wear the hijab, a powerful symbol of devotion & celebration of Muslim heritage,” NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs wrote on X.
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An Iranian American journalist also criticized Mamdani’s decision, calling it a serious lapse in judgement and awareness. She said the post was deeply upsetting, noting that while the day was being publicly celebrated in New York, women in Iran are facing imprisonment, violence, and even death for refusing to wear the hijab and for challenging the belief system that enforces it.
She faulted him for failing to express any public concern or support for the women affected, or to denounce the violence taking place. According to her, the decision to celebrate the day without acknowledging that reality was deeply unsettling. She described the silence as disgraceful and said it suggested he was siding with those who enforce oppression rather than standing with women.
She 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.
Not a single word of sympathy from you.
No expression of solidarity.
Not even an empty condemnation for the massacre which unfolding right now in Iran.
Your silence, paired with celebration, is shameful.
You are not standing with women.
You are standing with our jailers.”
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The criticism continued to mount in the comments from other users. One of the users wrote, “Sorry, I cannot stay quiet. You really have to hate women to erase their faces from a poster and celebrate their confinement through the veil. Pride is visible. It does not hide. The hijab is a man-made invention designed to control women and impose a form of apartheid. No happy world hijab day for life.”
Another user reacted, “Stop wrapping your oppressive ideology in pretty clothes and trying to sell it as empowerment.” “Why is the @NYCMayor celebrating oppressive patriarchy, misogyny, & the total subjugation of women?” questioned another.
Another critic went even further, pushing back hard on the framing of the hijab as a marker of devotion or empowerment. The commenter argued that presenting it that way ignored the reality many women face, describing the hijab instead as a symbol of an ideology they believe suppresses women and operates as a tool of control rather than a freely chosen expression of faith.