''The Siasat Daily'' is an Indian newspaper published by the Siasat Press based in the city of

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, Telangana. It operates the

digital news An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

website ''Siasat'' and is the publisher of the ''Siasat English Weekly'' magazine and the ''Siasat Urdu Daily'' newspaper whose editions are also available as

electronic paper Electronic paper or intelligent paper, is a display device that reflects ambient light, mimicking the appearance of ordinary ink on paper – unlike conventional flat-panel displays which need additional energy to emit their own light. This may ...

s. The editions of the paper were formerly published by the Intekhab Press. The Intekhab Press continues to publish editions of the ''Siasat Urdu Daily''. The publication has an advertising partnership with ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'', ''

Eenadu ''Eenadu'' (; ) is the largest circulated Telugu-language daily newspaper In India predominantly distributed in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by Ramoji Rao in 1974 in Visakhapatnam and has been a significant presen ...

'' and ''Daily Hindi Milap.'' It also operates the website dedicated to the writings of satirist

Mujtaba Hussain Mujtaba Hussain (15 July 193627 May 2020) was an Indian satirist and writer of Urdu literature. Early life Hussain was born on 15 July 1936 in Hyderabad. His brother Ibrahim Jalees was also a humorist, who had moved to Pakistan after the par ...

, who was a columnist of the paper.

History

Following the

annexation of Hyderabad The Annexation of Hyderabad (code-named Operation Polo) was a military operation launched in September 1948 that resulted in the annexation of the princely state of Hyderabad by India, which was dubbed a "police action". At the time of part ...

by the

Republic of India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area; the most populous country since 2023; and, since its independence in 1947, the world's most populous democracy. Bounded by ...

, ''The Siasat Daily'' was founded as 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 by Abid Ali Khan and Mahboob Husain Jigar on 15 August 1949. The founders are described to have been

Indian nationalists Indian nationalism is an instance of civic nationalism. It is inclusive of all of the people of India, despite their diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious backgrounds. Indian nationalism can trace roots to pre-colonial India, but was f ...

with the intent of "informing objectively to the population of the state, on local, national and international developments." The paper was contrasted with the sister publications of ''

Hind Samachar ''Hind Samachar'' () is a daily Urdu newspaper that is circulated in Mumbai. It was one of the three newspaper started by the Punjab Kesari Group back in 1948. Combined these three newspapers have combined circulation of 975,000 copies on week ...

'' (Urdu) and ''

Punjab Kesari ''Punjab Kesari'' () is a Hindi-language newspaper published from many centres in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi in India. It is owned by the Punjab Kesari group (The Hindsamachar Ltd.). It is one of the four newspapers ...

'' (Hindi) which were founded around the same time as the ''Siasat''. While the Hind Samachar Group had quickly expanded across and beyond

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

with editions in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

and

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

, working through an unified newsroom with "

Dickensian Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greate ...

discipline", the ''Siasat'' is described to have been on a "civilising mission", had a "friendly and family like" newsroom with minimal profit motives and exempt of the reliance on advertisements. The paper would continue to rely only on Urdu editions without expanding into regions beyond Hyderabad or to other more profitable languages until much later. Despite this, between 1976–1996 the daily circulation of the publication's editions had reportedly increased by 330% from approximately 10,000 to 44,000. After Abid Ali's death in 1992, his son Zahid Ali Khan took over the reins of the family-run daily. , the paper has continued to uninterruptedly use the format of

wall newspaper A wall newspaper or placard newspaper is a hand-lettered or printed newspaper designed to be displayed and read in public places both indoors and outdoors, utilizing vertical surfaces such as walls, boards, and fences. Usage in Communist state ...

s to publicise its editions in the city of Hyderabad since the day of first publication. In 1998, the paper launched its own digital website. It was reported to have been among the first newspapers to adopt

e-paper Electronic paper or intelligent paper, is a display device that reflects ambient light, mimicking the appearance of ordinary ink on paper – unlike conventional flat-panel displays which need additional energy to emit their own light. This may ...

formats along with the likes of ''

Dinamalar ''Dinamalar'' is an Indian Tamil daily newspaper. It was founded in 1951 by T. V. Ramasubba Iyer. ''Dinamalar'' has an average circulation of 689,773 ( ABC Jan–Jun 2022). History Dinamalar was founded by T. V. Ramasubbaiyer on 6 September ...

'' (Tamil), ''

Andhra Jyothi ''Andhra Jyothi'' (; ) is the third largest circulated Telugu language daily newspaper of India sold mostly in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It was founded by K. L. N. Prasad, an Industrialist on 1 July 1960. It is also one of t ...

'' (Telugu), ''

Lokmat ''Lokmat'' ( ) is a Marathi-language newspaper published in Maharashtra, India. Founded in 1971 by Jawaharlal Darda, it is the largest read Marathi-language newspaper in India. and has presence in print, digital, TV and events.National Readership Survey The National Readership Survey was a joint venture company in the United Kingdom ( UK) between the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) and the Periodical Publishers Association (PPA). It p ...

in 2003, the publication had a total readership of approximately 326,000. While according to the

Registrar of Newspapers for India The Press Registrar General of India (PRGI), formerly the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI), is a statutory body under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, for the registration of newspapers and periodicals ...

, the print circulation of the paper was reduced to 25,732 by 2004. The 2005 ABC figures and the 2006 Registrar figures however notes the print circulation of the paper to have been 42,869 and 41,597 respectively. , the monthly pageviews of the ''Siasat'' website was estimated to be 4.23 million. On 1 June 2006, ''The Siasat Daily'' entered into an advertising alliance with ''

–

'' alliance and ''Daily Hindi Milap.'' In the subsequent years the paper launched editions in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and

Hubli Hubli (officially Hubballi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad district of ...

with primary investors for the expansion being the

I Monetary Advisory I Monetary Advisory (IMA) was an Indian investment company, with headquarters in Bangalore. Its collapse was one in a long line of similar collapses over the preceding few years, of companies purporting to be Islamic banking companies, with invest ...

. However due to the collapse of the investment firm, the editions were discontinued after June 2019. Following the death of satirist and columnist Mujtaba Hussain on 27 May 2020, the publication launched a website named after him in commemoration, which features the whole body of work including correspondences, lectures, etc by the literary figure.

Editorial stance

The founder, Abid Ali Khan, was a former member of the

Progressive Writers' Association The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' () or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगतिश� ...

and remained as the editors of the newspaper. He was reportedly associated with leftists causes and had

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

sympathies, the paper as such had described itself as being

apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased p ...

but infused with a progressive spirit. ''The Siasat Dail''y is noted to have been opposed to the emergence of

sectarian Sectarianism is a debated concept. Some scholars and journalists define it as pre-existing fixed communal categories in society, and use it to explain political, cultural, or religious conflicts between groups. Others conceive of sectarianism a ...

political formations such as the

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (; AIMIM) is a Right-wing politics, right-wing Indian political party based primarily in the Old City (Hyderabad, India), old city of Hyderabad, It is also a significant political party in the States a ...

Akali Dal The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) (translation: ''Supreme Eternal Party'') is a Centre-right politics, centre-right Sikhism, Sikh-centric state political party in Punjab, India, Punjab, India. The party is the second-oldest in India, after Indian ...

and the

Hindu Mahasabha Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (), simply known as Hindu Mahasabha, is a Hindu nationalism, Hindu nationalist political party in India. Founded in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malviya, the Mahasabha functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating th ...

. The paper has also been a proponent of the usage of colloquial Hindi over the standardised forms of formal Urdu or Hindi.

Notable columnists

Krishan Kant Krishan Kant (28 February 1927 – 27 July 2002) was an Indian politician who served as the vice president of India from 1997 until his death in 2002. Prior to his vice presidency, Kant was the governor of Andhra Pradesh from 1990 to 1997. He ...

* Syed Imtiazuddin

Philanthropy

''The Daily Siasat'' is engaged in a number of philanthropic endeavours funded from the publication's own funds as well as through donation drives from readers; primarily focusing on improving literacy in both vernacular (

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

Urdu-Hindi Hindustani is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in North India and Pakistan as the lingua franca of the region. It is also spoken by the Deccani-speaking community in the Deccan plateau. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two stand ...

) and English, especially among women. The publication also supports a variety of small literary trusts. Since 2011, it hosts the ''ru-ba-ru'' programme for prospective marriages as part of an anti–

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

drive in the

Old City of Hyderabad The Old City of Hyderabad is a walled city of Hyderabad, Telangana, India, located on the banks of the Musi River built by Qutb Shahi sultan Muhammed Quli Qutb Shah in 1591 AD. There used to be a wall surrounding the Old City, most of ...

References

External links