Shazia Ilmi (born 2 April 1970) is an Indian politician and the national spokesperson of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

since July 2021. Before joining politics, Ilmi was a television journalist and anchor at

Star News ABP News is an Indian Hindi-language free-to-air television news channel owned by ABP Group. Initially launched as Star News in 1998, it was later acquired by the ABP Group (ABP). It won the Best Hindi News Channel award in the 21st edition ...

, where she led a media campaign for an anti-corruption bill (to institute an ombudsman popularly known as the

Jan Lokpal Bill The Jan Lokpal Bill, also referred to as the Citizen's Ombudsman Bill, was a bill drawn up by civil society activists in India seeking the appointment of a Jan Lokpal, an independent body to investigate corruption cases and complete the investig ...

). She started her political career with the

Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...

and was a member of its National Executive before she left the party in May 2014 and joined the

in January 2015.

Early life

Ilmi comes from a middle-class

Kanpur Kanpur (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ), originally named Kanhapur and formerly anglicized as Cawnpore, is the second largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Uttar Pradesh after Lucknow. It was the primary ...

-based Muslim family with links to the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

political party. Her father, Maulana Ishaq Ilmi, was the founder and editor of '' Siyasat Jadid'', a Kanpur-based

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

newspaper. Ilmi was educated at St. Mary's Convent High School in

and

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

and then at

St. Bede's College, Shimla St. Bede's College is a women's college in Navbahar, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. The college was originally established as a teacher's training institute in 1904 by the Religious of Jesus and Mary. Today, it offers courses in Arts, Comme ...

. She then completed degree courses in journalism and broadcasting at

Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia is a Public university, public and research university located in Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British R ...

and the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, and also completed a diploma in 16mm film production at

New York Film Academy New York Film Academy – School of Film and Acting (NYFA) is a Private college, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit film school and Drama school, acting school based in New York City, Los Angeles metropolitan ar ...

Her brother Aijaz Ilmi is a member and spokesperson of the

. Her sister is married to Arif Mohammed Khan, a former

politician and Union Minister, who is currently the Governor of Bihar. Shazia Ilmi is married to Sajid Malik.

Television career

Ilmi spent 15 years in varied aspects of television news and documentary production. She has been an anchor on Star News, where she hosted and produced the popular prime time news show ''Desh Videsh''. Ilmi has been a member of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television. Her film titled ''Post Box. 418 Siyasat Kanpur'', concerning the struggle for survival of an

Urdu language Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

newspaper, was screened at the IAWRT film festival in 2011 and also at events such as a similar festival in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. She was also a co-director, with Radha Hola, of a 1996 documentary concerning the eco-feminist

Vandana Shiva Vandana Shiva (born 5 November 1952) is an Indian scholar, environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate, ecofeminist and anti-globalization author. Based in Delhi, Shiva has written more than 20 books. She is often referred to as "Ga ...

. This film, called ''Daughter of the Earth — Portrait of Vandana Shiva'', has been shown by various television broadcasters, including the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

Political career

In 2011, Shazia Ilmi joined the anti-corruption campaign, that was being led by Anna Hazare, and became the urbane, Muslim, media-savvy face of Team Anna. After the Anna Hazare campaign ended, she joined the

, and became a member of its National Executive. Ilmi, along with some other AAP leaders, was briefly involved in a controversy over malpractices in fund-collection, though the allegations were never proven. She contested the Lok Sabha elections, 2014 for the AAP from

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in Western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziaba ...

but lost to V. K. Singh. Having been unhappy with the party's leadership, she resigned her AAP party membership on 24 May 2014. Ilmi joined the BJP on 16 January 2015 along with IPS Officer Kiran Bedi in a felicitation ceremony at the Delhi BJP office, just before the upcoming 2015 Delhi Assembly elections. She was appointed as a national spokesperson of the

in July 2021. In September 2022, she moved the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...

seeking direction to the Central government to establish a consistent and universal code for granting

alimony Alimony, also called aliment (Scotland), maintenance (England, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada, New Zealand), spousal support (U.S., Canada) and spouse maintenance (Australia), is a legal obligation on a person to provide ...

and maintenance (Child support), aiming to eliminate obstacles.

Other activities

In January 2017, Ilmi was appointed the additional director (non-official part-time independent) of Engineers India Ltd (EIL) from 27 March 2017 to 30 January 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilmi, Shazia Living people Indian women activists Freedom of information activists 21st-century Indian Muslims Politicians from Kanpur Aam Aadmi Party candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Women in Delhi politics 1970 births Former members of Aam Aadmi Party from Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Delhi Indian women television journalists Indian television journalists Indian anti-corruption activists Activists from Delhi 21st-century Indian women politicians 21st-century Indian politicians 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian journalists Journalists from Delhi Women writers from Delhi Jamia Millia Islamia alumni St. Bede's College, Shimla alumni