Veteran journalist Saeed Naqvi has seen it all, and he's got the stories to prove it. Naqvi, who began his career in 1964 as a reporter in The Statesman, has seen the media industry grow over the decades, absorbing threats and becoming diverse. In his new book, Being the Other: The Muslim in India, Naqvi trains his eye upon India's modern history and takes some well-aimed shots at people who were once his heroes, like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Being the Other is a book that is as angry as it is nostalgic. It's filled with anecdotes and stories that sometimes delight and often disturb. There are parts where Naqvi puts away his journalist hat — like when he puts in a story based on unsubstantiated rumours about Vijaylakshmi Pandit — but for most part, the book is a richly-told memoir in which Naqvi isn't afraid to call people like Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee out.
While speaking to Newslaundry, Naqvi spoke about the Hindu-Muslim divide that has grown in the past few years, the Muslim identity of Delhi as a city, and Nehru's status of the undisputed leader for Indian Muslims in the early years of independence. He also talks about how the media has created a divide in the world by playing with perceptions and how there is a need to bring "the space back for liberal discourse."
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