Basharat Peer ( ks}, born 1977) is a Kashmiri journalist, script writer, and author. Peer spent his early youth in the Kashmir Valley before shifting to

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...

and then,

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

for higher education. In August 2006, he relocated from India to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where he is currently based as an opinion-editor at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''.

Early and personal life

Peer was born in Seer Hamdan in the

Anantnag district Anantnag district is a district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of ten districts which make up the Kashmir Valley. The district headquarters is Anantnag city. As of 2011, it was the third most populous district ...

of the erstwhile

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

of Jammu and Kashmir into a

Kashmiri Muslim Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley in Indian-administered Kashmir. Quote: "Jammu and Kashmir: Territory in northwestern India, subject to a dispute between India and Pakistan. It has b ...

family. He did his early schooling from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Aishmuqam, an educational institution located near the city of

Anantnag Anantnag (/ə'nʌntna:g/ or /-nɑːg/ ), also called Islamabad, is the administrative headquarters of the Anantnag district in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is located at a distance of 53 kilometres (33 miles) from the u ...

, and attended Aligarh Muslim University as well as the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

for higher education in the fields of

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

, respectively. Peer also attended the Graduate School of Journalism at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in the

. Peer's father is a retired officer of the Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service. He married

Ananya Vajpeyi Ananya Vajpeyi is an Indian academic and writer. She is Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. She is the author of the award-winning book "''Righteous Republic: The Political foundations of Modern India''" published by the ...

—a

-based academician of Hindu–Sikh background—in 2013, following an eight-year-long

courtship Courtship is the period wherein some couples get to know each other prior to a possible marriage. Courtship traditionally may begin after a betrothal and may conclude with the celebration of marriage. A courtship may be an informal and private m ...

Career

Peer started his career as a reporter at ''

Rediff Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' and ''

Tehelka ''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...

''. In his early career he was based in

. He has worked as an Assistant Editor at '' Foreign Affairs'' and was a Fellow at Open Society Institute, New York. He was a Roving Editor at ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

''. He has written extensively on South Asian politics for ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

'', ''Foreign Affairs'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', '' FT Magazine'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'', '' The National'' and ''

The Caravan ''The Caravan'' is an Indian English-language, long-form narrative journalism magazine covering politics and culture. History In 1940, Vishwa Nath launched ''Caravan'' as the first magazine from the Delhi Press; it went on to establish it ...

''. He is the author of ''

Curfewed Night ''Curfewed Night: A Frontline Memoir of Life, Love and War in Kashmir'' is a memoir on the Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan, written by Indian American journalist Basharat Peer. It primarily focuses on the impact of the ongoing an ...

'', an eyewitness account of the

Kashmir conflict The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict over the Kashmir region, primarily between India and Pakistan, with China playing a third-party role. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as both India and Pakistan claimed ...

, which won the Crossword Prize for Non-Fiction and was chosen among the Books of the Year by

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...

and

. Peer ran the "India Ink" blog on the digital edition of ''

''.

Notable work

Peer was the script writer along with

Vishal Bhardwaj Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer, music composer and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of seven National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. Bha ...

for the 2014

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film '' Haider'', in which he also made a special appearance. He is also known for his literary pieces. His open letter to Indians under the title of Letter to an unknown Indian started a literary debate on kashmir dispute.

Publications

* *

Notes

References

External links

*
Video: Basharat Peer discusses his book ''Curfewed Night''
at the Asia Society, New York. 12 April 2010 Article about Basharat Peer adapting and co-writing the screenplay of the movie ''Haider'', an adaptation of ''Hamlet'' set in mid-1990s Kashmir and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj.
Hindustan Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peer, Basharat 1967 births Living people 20th-century Indian essayists Writers about the Kashmir conflict Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni Indian Muslims Indian columnists Indian male essayists Indian male journalists Indian political writers Journalists from Jammu and Kashmir American people of Kashmiri descent The New Yorker people People from Aligarh People from Anantnag district People from Anantnag Aligarh Muslim University alumni Delhi University alumni 20th-century Indian screenwriters