Seema Mustafa
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. She is the former Political Editor
Political Editor
The political editor of a newspaper or broadcast media is the senior political reporter who covers politics and related matters for the newspaper or station...
and Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
Bureau Chief of The Asian Age
Asian Age
The Asian Age is an Indian daily newspaper with editions in four major cities in India and one in London. The newspaper was launched in February 1994, simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and London. At present, it has editions in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and London. The Asian Age brings out...
newspaper published in India. Her op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
column appeared on Saturdays. These were syndicated to several newspapers, including The Deccan Chronicle
The Deccan Chronicle
Deccan Chronicle is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. It is published in Hyderabad, India by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited. The newspaper's name derives from the originating place, the Deccan regions of India. Supplements are "TV Guide", "Sunday Chronicle", "Chennai Chronicle", and...
from Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, India and The Dawn newspaper of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. With the sacking of Asian Age editor M.J. Akbar over the defence of an anti-Congress, anti-Indo-US Nuclear Deal op-ed written by Seema, Seema resigned from the Asian Age as well. She then joined Newsx as national affairs editor and head of the national bureau. She hosted a weekly interview programme, Straight Talk With Seema Mustafa. She is now Resident Editor, The Sunday Guardian, New Delhi, a paper launched by M.J. Akbar.
Biography
Seema Mustafa was born in DelhiDelhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
on April 20, 1955. She graduated with a BA
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Lucknow University in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
. Seema's father Lt Col Syed Mustafa was in the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
and she is related to the socialist freedom fighter Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai
Rafi Ahmed Kidwai , was an Indian independence activist and a socialist, sometimes described as an Islamic socialist...
from her mother's side. Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
MP Anis Kidwai was her grandmother from her mother's side. Seema has two elder brothers, SP 'Bobby' Mustafa, Hindustan Unilever Ltd’s group treasurer and head of M&A , and Kamal Mustafa, now retired but once the Managing Director & Head of Global Mergers and Acquisitions for Citybank.
She was married to a businessman from Delhi and has two children, Agneya and Gayeti Singh.
Career
Seema Mustafa began her journalist career in Lucknow with The PioneerThe Pioneer
The Pioneer or The Pioneers may refer to:* The Pioneer , a sculpture by Solon H. Borglum listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places*The Pioneers , a sculpture by Lorado Taft...
before becoming the only woman journalist with The Patriot
The Patriot
The Patriot may refer to:In film:*The Patriot , a Roland Emmerich film about the American Revolutionary War, starring Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger*The Patriot , a Steven Seagal action film...
in 1979. Later she also worked for many major newspapers, including The Telegraph
The Telegraph (Kolkata)
The Telegraph is an Indian daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Kolkata since 1982. It is published by the ABP Group and the newspaper vies with the Times of India for the position of having the widest widest circulation of any newspaper in Eastern India.According to the Audit...
and Indian Express before joining The Asian Age
Asian Age
The Asian Age is an Indian daily newspaper with editions in four major cities in India and one in London. The newspaper was launched in February 1994, simultaneously in Delhi, Mumbai and London. At present, it has editions in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and London. The Asian Age brings out...
in 1997.
She has received several journalistic awards, including the prestigious "Prem Bhatia Award for Excellence in Political Reporting and Analysis" in 1999 for her coverage of the Kargil
Kargil War
The Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...
war in May–July 1999.
Seema Mustafa left the Asian Age in 2008 and worked as Resident Editor of covert magazine
Covert magazine
Covert is a fortnightly magazine whose first edition was published on 15 May 2008. Its founder is the well known journalist and columnist MJ Akbar. It is targeted at people who are very intellectual and want to keep up to date with the socio-political situation in India...
, a fortnightly political magazine. She then served as National Affairs Editor at NewsX
NewsX
NewsX is a 24-hour rolling news television channel in India, which was recently rated India's most watched English news channel by TAM.-History:The channel was launched on the 28 March 2008 by the INX Network, which was then headed by Indrani Mukerjea....
, and is currently Resident Editor at The Sunday Guardian.
Writing style
Seema has been noted to have a characteristic leftist and socialist view point. Many of her articles criticise government policy, and generally reflect pro-minority, secular and feminist slants. She has lashed out at many influential sections of the political spectrum. She has defended Indian Muslims against the charge of being anti-national and pro-Pakistani.Involvement in politics
Seema was a member of VP Singh's Janata DalJanata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
party and is said to be closely associated with him. The fact that she wrote his biography seems to strengthen this assertion. She has apparently contested UP Assembly Elections under the Janata Dal Ticket.
She contested the Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha
The Lok Sabha or House of the People is the lower house of the Parliament of India. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by direct election under universal adult suffrage. As of 2009, there have been fifteen Lok Sabhas elected by the people of India...
General elections twice from Domariaganj
Domariaganj
Domariaganj is a town and tehsil of Siddharthnagar district in eastern Uttar Pradesh. It is largely Agrahari populated area.Dumariyaganj is politically very undeveloped area.-Geography:Domariaganj is located at...
in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
, once as an Independent in 1996 and previously as a member of Indian Congress (Socialist) - Sarat Chandra Sinha
Indian Congress (Socialist) - Sarat Chandra Sinha
Indian Congress – Sarat Chandra Sinha was a political party in India between 1984 and 1999. The party was formed through a split in the Indian Congress , and was led by former Assam CM , Sarat Chandra Sinha....
(ICS(SCS)) (a break away faction of the Congress (Socialist)) in 1991 and lost both times, coming 10th and 4th respectively.
Lately, she has been linked to the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...
(CPI(M)) on the issue of opposing the Government of India's stance on the anti-Iran vote in the International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
to appease the USA. She is part of the CPI(M) Committee to Campaign for an Independent Foreign Policy.
Of late, she has written actively in opposition to the Indo-US Nuclear Agreement.
External links
- [The Front Page - http://www.thefrontpage.in]