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BIOGRAPHY : MOBASSHAR JAVED AKBAR (MJ) |
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| Date of Birth: 11 January 1951 (Capricorn) Education: Calcutta Boys’ School |Presidency College, Calcutta Bachelor of Arts: English (Honours): 1967-1970 |
M. J. Akbar is a distinguished writer and Member of Parliament for BJP. During his long career in journalism, he launched, as editor, India’s first weekly political news magazine, Sunday in 1976, and two daily newspapers, The Telegraph and The Asian Age in 1989 and 1994. He has also been editorial director of India Today and The Sunday Guardian.
He first served as an elected Member of Parliament between 1989 and 1991, and returned to public life in March 2014, when he joined the BJP and was appointed a National Spokesperson during the historic general elections that brought the party back to office with a simple majority under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi. In July, 2015 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jharkhand.
He is also the author of several internationally acclaimed books, including
India: The Siege Within
Nehru: The Making of India
Riot After Riot
Kashmir: Behind the Vale
The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict between Islam and Christianity
Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan
Blood Brothers, a novel.
Byline
Have Pen, Will Travel – Observations of a Globetrotter
Mirror to Power
Fratelli di Sangue is an Italian Translated version of Blood Brothers
In addition there have been collections of his columns, reportage and essays.
In 2004, he was named a member of the committee set up by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah to draft a ten year charter for Muslim nations at a special conference in Mecca.
In March 2006 he joined The Brookings Institution, Washington, as a Visiting Fellow in the Brookings Project on U.S. Policy towards the Islamic world. He also serves as chairman of the trust for the Calcutta Muslim Orphanage.
