Foreign Affairs

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Saeed Naqvi started his journalist career as Staff Reporter with The Statesman, Delhi in 1964, later becoming editor of the Sunday Magazine. During this period, in spring of '68, when The Beatles visited India, he along with fellow photographer Raghu Rai filed news reports and photographs for newspapers. He stayed in the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram as a disciple to capture the story of The Beatles' stay in Ashram, Rishikesh, Himalaya. He reported from the inside about the life and living of John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. As editor and producer of WORLD REPORT, a weekly foreign affairs show on Doordarshan called Worldview India, apart from a prime time international news and features series entitled It's A Small World (1997–1999) for Star TV. From 1986 to 1997 WORLD REPORT produced an international affairs series entitled World Report for Doordarshan, featuring interviews with major world leaders. Thereafter it produced a series of programmes entitled Hamara Bharat (Our India) on India's syncretic culture. Saeed has been Editor, Foreign Editor, Foreign Correspondent for major Indian dailies – The Indian Express, The Statesman – and written for a range of publications like New York Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Washington Post, Boston Globe and others. During his long career, Saeed Naqvi has interviewed world famous leaders and politicians including Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi, Henry Kissinger, Benazir Bhutto, Mohammad Najibullah, Hamid Karzai, Shimon Peres, Gorbachev, Tariq Aziz and more. Famous Bollywood film director Kabir Khan assisted Saeed Naqvi; he worked for Naqvi as a cinematographer and travelled to many countries for documentary and interview shooting.

Reader's Guide

Saeed Naqvi's latest book is a literary work where he wrote a drama in English 'The Muslim Vanishes'. This book has been published by Penguin. The theme of the book became the topic of discussion among the scholars. In this book, the author imagines a society where Muslims abruptly vanished. He has been called for lectures and talks by prestigious institutions, societies and clubs. He was invited by Columbia University in 2016 to talk about his book 'Being the Other: The Muslim in India'. He delivered the 18th Narendran Memorial Lecture on 'Saffron surge: can it be stopped' at the Trivandrum Press Club on 18 August 2019. He has also given a Tedx Talk in Jamia Millia Islamia on 16 October 2017. Saeed Naqvi was born and brought up in Mustafabad, Lucknow. He studied at La Martinière College, Lucknow. Naqvi is married to Aruna Naqvi and has three daughters: journalist Saba Naqvi, writer Farah Naqvi, and Zeba Akhtar. His mother is Atia Naqvi while his brother is Shanney Naqvi. His books include: Reflections of an Indian Muslim (1993), The Last Brahmin Prime Minister (1996), Being the Other: The Muslim in India (2016), Watan mein ghair: Hindustani Musalmaan (2018) – Urdu translation of Strangers in their own country: The Muslims in India, and The Muslim Vanishes (2022). He received the National Integration Award 2003, awarded by the National Commission for Minorities in New Delhi on 18 December, conferred 'for his outstanding contribution towards promoting communal harmony and national integrity'.

Did You Know?

• In spring of '68, when The Beatles visited India, Saeed Naqvi stayed in the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram as a disciple to capture the story of their stay.
• He interviewed world leaders including Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi, Henry Kissinger, Benazir Bhutto, Mohammad Najibullah, Hamid Karzai, Shimon Peres, Gorbachev, and Tariq Aziz.
• Famous Bollywood film director Kabir Khan worked for Naqvi as a cinematographer, travelling to many countries for documentary and interview shooting.
• His book 'The Muslim Vanishes' (2022) imagines a society where Muslims abruptly vanished and was published by Penguin.
• He received the National Integration Award 2003 from the National Commission for Minorities in New Delhi for promoting communal harmony and national integrity.