Zahid Ali Khan is an Indian journalist from

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India ...

who is the editor-in-chief of an Urdu newspaper, ''

The Siasat Daily ''The Siasat Daily'' is an Indian newspaper published by the Siasat Press based in the city of Hyderabad, Telangana. It operates the Hindi-Urdu and English language digital news website ''Siasat'' and is the publisher of the ''Siasat English W ...

''. He has contested the

Lok Sabha constituency in 2009.

Personal life

Khan is the son of Abid Ali Khan, who was the founder of ''

''. His mother Muneerunnisa Begum was the daughter of Syed Shah Shabir Hussaini, who was the head of Hazrat

Dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

Shah Khamosh.

Political campaign

In 2009, it was announced that Khan would contest the 2009 Indian general election for the 70% Muslim-majority constituency of

, running as an independent candidate with the support of the regional

Telangana Rashtra Samithi Bharat Rashtra Samithi ( ; BRS), formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi ( TRS), is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in the state of Telangana. It was founded on 27 April 2001 as by K. Chandrashekar Rao, with a sing ...

party,

Telugu Desam Party The Telugu Desam Party (; TDP) is an Indian regional political party operating in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at the state and central level. Since its founding by N. T. Rama Rao (often referred to as NTR) on 29 March 1982, the party has fo ...

, and the Communist Party of India and

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the na ...

. The incumbent was Asaduddin Owaisi, president of the

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen The All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen ( en, All India Council for Unity of Muslims) ( AIMIM) is an Indian political party based primarily in the city of Hyderabad. It is also a significant political party in the Indian States of Telangana ...

(AIMIM) party which had held that constituency since 1984. Khan said that his aim was to "uplift ..the Muslims of the old city of Hyderabad". In February 2009, Khan was assaulted and hospitalized by unknown persons alleged to be workers of the AIMIM party. Editors of ''The Siasat Daily'' and ten other news outlets came out in support, noting government and police inaction toward increasing attacks on journalists. Owaisi defeated Khan in the election by a margin of 110,768 votes. Khan was polled 182,000 votes compared to Owaisi's 293,000. In 2014, Khan broke from the Telugu Desam Party as he was unhappy with the party's alliance with the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mod ...

, feeling that this would adversely affect the Muslim community. He also rejected a ticket from the Aam Aadmi Party.

Social service

Mahmood Ali, the Deputy Chief Minister of

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and 3 ...

, said that Khan had an important place in the country by contributing to social and journalistic fields. Khan has also taken the responsibility of burying thousands of unclaimed Muslim bodies in Islamic services.

Views

In interviews and editorials in ''The Siasat Daily'', Khan has stated that he feels that Muslims had faced injustice and had not been given power and employment in post-independence India. He also feels that Islamic culture had been under attack. He supported the state government led by Kcr to increase reservations for Muslims from 4% to 12%.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Zahid Ali Politicians from Hyderabad, India Living people Telugu Desam Party politicians Year of birth missing (living people)