Shazia Ilmi Biography

About Shazia Ilmi

Shazia Ilmi is one of the former National Executive members of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). She is a social activist who was formerly a television journalist, correspondent and anchor. During 2011 and 2012, she got actively involved with the India Against Corruption Movement led by veteran social leader Anna Hazare and became the spokesperson of the movement. In the Jan Lokpal movement, she led a media campaign which found widespread acceptance. Ilmi parted her ways with the AAP in May 2014.

Personal Background of Shazia Ilmi

Shazia Ilmi was born in 1970 into a Kanpur-based Muslim family. Her father was the founder and editor of 'Siyasat Jadid', the oldest Urdu daily which was also the largest-selling Urdu paper in Kanpur. She is the youngest of four brothers and two sisters. Ilmi did her schooling from St. Mary’s School at Kanpur and also in Nainital. She was a student of St. Bede’s College at Shimla. Thereafter she pursued a course in mass communication from the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi in 1994 and a diploma in journalism and broadcasting from the University of Wales in Cardiff. She is also a diploma holder in 16 mm Film Production from the New York Film Academy.

Her family has links with the Indian National Congress political party. One of her uncles was an Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly member for over 20 years. Her brother-in-law Arif Mohammed was a former politician and minister of the Indian National Congress party, and is at present a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party. Her husband, Sajid Mallik, is a half-Tamil Iyer and a half-Gujarati Muslim. By profession, he is an investment banker.

Shazia Ilmi's Professional Background before Entering Politics

Shazia Ilmi is a former well-established prime-time television anchor and political correspondent who is the first working woman in her family. Her 15 years of experience in media is diverse in the field of documentary production and television news. "Desh Videsh" the popular news show of Star News featured in prime time, was produced, anchored and hosted by Shazia Ilmi. Several shows on current affairs and documentaries highlighting issues on gender bias and rights of minority groups in India were produced by her. One of her shows, "Dr. Kans", featured sting operations on doctors involved in illegal female foeticide. The aftermath of the operation witnessed suspension of medical licenses of such doctors. She has also been associated with other renowned news mediums such as Zee News and The Times of India.

Shazia Ilmi’s Plunge into Politics

Shazia Ilmi played an active role from the very initial stage in the India Against Corruption Movement led by Anna Hazare. As a media strategist, her experience in media was suitably utilised during the movement when she became the spokesperson of the movement.

Arvind Kejriwal, a former civil servant officer and one of the eminent supporters of the movement, had a difference of opinion with Anna Hazare. While Anna wanted the movement to be politically neutral, Kejriwal was of the opinion that it was necessary to directly get involved in politics since no progress was attained through talks with different political parties. Shazia Ilmi supported the move of Kejriwal and became a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), launched under the leadership of Kejriwal. The party contested elections for the first time on December 4, 2013 for the Delhi Legislative Assembly and won as many as 28 seats. Ilmi contested the December 2013 Assembly elections from the Rama Krishna Puram constituency on AAP ticket and narrowly lost.

Ilmi contested the General Elections 2014 from Ghaziabad but lost to the BJP candidate General V K Singh, a former Army Chief who bagged a whopping 7,58,482 votes and Ilmi was at the fifth position with only 89,147 votes.

Now, with the BJP

In the run up to the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, speculations started doing rounds that Shazia Ilmi might join the BJP. On January 16, 2015, Ilmi was officially inducted into the BJP fold in a media meet held at the Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi.

Controversy surrounding Shazia Ilmi

Shazia Ilmi was accused of accepting money for the AAP through illegal means. A sting operation conducted showed her, along with some other leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, allegedly accepting money. But there are some doubts about the legitimacy and authenticity of the video.

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