Bangladeshi teen challenges NY senator!

Tahseen Chowdhury
Tahseen Chowdhury

Tahseen Chowdhury, a 17-year-old Bangladeshi American student, is running for the New York state Senate against an incumbent.

The American Bazaar reports that the student of Stuyvesant High School announced his candidacy for the Empire State’s Senate District 13 in Democratic Party’s primary in September.

Current senator in the constituency is Jose Peralta who was facing allegations of fraud, according to the report.

Tahseen Chowdhury is said to have worked as a student leader and community organiser, who first announced his candidacy last May.

“We cannot keep accepting watered-down versions of progressive legislation from the Independent Democratic Conference,” Chowdhury reportedly said while announcing his candidacy.

“New York should be at the forefront of the progressive movement, not enabling Trump Republicans to get their way,” he was quoted to have insisted.

According to the report, he was outraged by Peralta’s decision to join the Independent Democratic Conference last year.

Chowdhury’s tenure as an advisor on the New York City Department of Education’s panel for educational policy has shaped his political outlook, said the report.

As part of his campaign, Tahseen Chowdhury proposed a bill to strengthen the role of students on the panel, the report added.

Being a Muslim, he stands by the community, which, the report said, is facing the adverse effects of Islamophobia especially after the terrorist attack during Halloween last year.

“As a Muslim candidate, I will continue to stand by the Muslim community, as it is one that stands by progressive American beliefs,” he was quoted by The New Yorker as saying.

The report said while some people raised concerns about his age, Chowdhury thinks it is an advantage compared to other politicians since he doesn’t have any agenda and he is too young to be compromised.