Author of two academic books; countless articles in leading publications and long journalistic tenure, Shamim Zakaria is journalist, author and academic hailing from the northeast Indian state of Assam's Guwahati. A post-graduate in International Journalism from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom; his journalistic experiences include contributing bountiful political, socio-political and investigative stories, and penning commentaries for a plethora of regional, national and international publications, disseminating in print and web-based medium.
Born and brought up in India’s northeast, he did his schooling and spent most of his early life in Guwahati, Assam before relocating to Delhi to pursue graduate study and thereafter to England for post-graduation after being awarded a scholarship. He holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in Journalism and Mass Communication from India and a master’s degree in International Journalism from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.
A journalist at the core of given caliber his writings are focused primarily on politics, human rights, and other socio-political issues. He has authored two academic books - 'India's Invisible Shackles' and 'Leaks, WikiLeaks and the Press' along with multitudinous articles which have found a place in a plethora of regional, national and international publications, disseminating in print and web-based medium. He has lived and worked internationally based out of India, England, and China.
In his current role as the Foreign Editor at Global Times newspaper, based in Beijing, China, he is responsible for editing and writing about news from the political, social and economic sphere relevant to the People's Republic of China with a particular focus on South Asian affairs.
Bragging rights:
Choosing a career in journalism isn't something that happened out of the blue, but it is the only thing I live and breathe! I have been in this arena since aged 17. As the days of flipping pages of school books were on, I used to contribute articles and news stories for locally published print and online outlets. While pursuing higher secondary I worked part-time as a stringer for a fortnightly newspaper 'Breaking News Today' published from New Delhi. Thereafter during my graduation and after its completion, I went on to work for various news magazines and newspapers.
In my stint of journalistic experience, I contributed numerous political, socio-political, investigative stories and interviewed many India politicians. The utter busyness of classroom lectures and incessant academic work during my post-graduation days in England didn't retain me from striding on my journalistic endeavor as I continued penning analytic commentary for numerous print and online publications.
Snippets of my experiences working in India may include, having worked for the national daily Eastern Chronicle as a desk editor which was my assignment before I parted ways with India. I have pioneered the launch of a news website (www.netrailblazer.com) and a news magazine INSIDE FACT published from Guwahati, serving as an honorary editorial member for both.
I had been instrumental in bringing to light a matter of racial discrimination against a group of college girls from Guwahati, Assam visiting the Taj Mahal, through the news story ‘Northeast Students fall prey to discrimination at historic Taj’. The news managed to create uproar across the length and breadth of Assam, further leading to a demand in the parliament for an official inquiry by a premier federal investigative agency. Following an exclusive investigative story that exposed multi-million irregularities by National Mission on Bamboo Technology (NMBT) and National Bamboo Mission (NBM), a high-level inquiry headed by an Additional Chief Secretary was ordered by the Industries and Commerce Minister. A couple of years later India's central government ordered complete restructuring of the entire organization.
I had contributed regular columns for the weekly tabloid ‘Panorama Guwahati’ opining on the socio-political sphere, and contributed to www.countercurrents.com, writing about politics and issues pertaining to national security. My Op-Ed pieces have been featured in leading Indian publications like Kashmir Times and Kashmir Monitor.
I have also appeared as a panelist on international media including BBC and Al Jazeera. A few of my articles have also been published in the famed online platform Youth Ki Awaaz which is a United Nations awardee.
While working for the national daily Eastern Chronicle I did an investigative story about a rare breed of turtle found in northeast India's Tripura province, which was on the verge of extinction due to detrimental practices and the dearth of proper care. As an impact, a few months later the High Court of Tripura sought a report from the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Government of Tripura to initiate necessary steps for demolishing the concrete and cemented embankment, which as per experts is one of the reasons behind deterrence of this turtle.
I have extensively covered the 2014 Indian general elections primarily focusing on Northeast India, during which I interviewed many famed politicians.
Among my volunteering experiences include I was a founding and core team member of the non-government organization Stop Acid Attack. It was an organization campaigning against acid attacks on women and working for the rehabilitation of the victims. I was responsible for handling the blog section of the campaign website.
During my undergraduate study, I was a student editor of the university newspaper ‘The Shardans.’ My task was covering stories, idea generation, finalizing the layout design, editing articles and leading a team of student journalists. Initially a four-page, black and white layout, during my editorship it was upgraded to a full-colored six-page version.
A few of the recognitions to my work include being enlisted as one of the top 10 contributors by the British magazine, Kettle and conferred the
Raftaar Live Writer of the Year 2013 award by a Delhi based magazine Raftaar Live. I was a recipient of the 2015 Sussex India Scholarship to study post-graduation in England.
On the sidelines, I have a keen interest in photography; love writing poems; an avid debater, a reclusive traveller and a voracious reader.
Born and brought up in India’s northeast, he did his schooling and spent most of his early life in Guwahati, Assam before relocating to Delhi to pursue graduate study and thereafter to England for post-graduation after being awarded a scholarship. He holds a bachelor’s degree with honors in Journalism and Mass Communication from India and a master’s degree in International Journalism from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.
A journalist at the core of given caliber his writings are focused primarily on politics, human rights, and other socio-political issues. He has authored two academic books - 'India's Invisible Shackles' and 'Leaks, WikiLeaks and the Press' along with multitudinous articles which have found a place in a plethora of regional, national and international publications, disseminating in print and web-based medium. He has lived and worked internationally based out of India, England, and China.
In his current role as the Foreign Editor at Global Times newspaper, based in Beijing, China, he is responsible for editing and writing about news from the political, social and economic sphere relevant to the People's Republic of China with a particular focus on South Asian affairs.
Bragging rights:
Choosing a career in journalism isn't something that happened out of the blue, but it is the only thing I live and breathe! I have been in this arena since aged 17. As the days of flipping pages of school books were on, I used to contribute articles and news stories for locally published print and online outlets. While pursuing higher secondary I worked part-time as a stringer for a fortnightly newspaper 'Breaking News Today' published from New Delhi. Thereafter during my graduation and after its completion, I went on to work for various news magazines and newspapers.
In my stint of journalistic experience, I contributed numerous political, socio-political, investigative stories and interviewed many India politicians. The utter busyness of classroom lectures and incessant academic work during my post-graduation days in England didn't retain me from striding on my journalistic endeavor as I continued penning analytic commentary for numerous print and online publications.
Snippets of my experiences working in India may include, having worked for the national daily Eastern Chronicle as a desk editor which was my assignment before I parted ways with India. I have pioneered the launch of a news website (www.netrailblazer.com) and a news magazine INSIDE FACT published from Guwahati, serving as an honorary editorial member for both.
I had been instrumental in bringing to light a matter of racial discrimination against a group of college girls from Guwahati, Assam visiting the Taj Mahal, through the news story ‘Northeast Students fall prey to discrimination at historic Taj’. The news managed to create uproar across the length and breadth of Assam, further leading to a demand in the parliament for an official inquiry by a premier federal investigative agency. Following an exclusive investigative story that exposed multi-million irregularities by National Mission on Bamboo Technology (NMBT) and National Bamboo Mission (NBM), a high-level inquiry headed by an Additional Chief Secretary was ordered by the Industries and Commerce Minister. A couple of years later India's central government ordered complete restructuring of the entire organization.
I had contributed regular columns for the weekly tabloid ‘Panorama Guwahati’ opining on the socio-political sphere, and contributed to www.countercurrents.com, writing about politics and issues pertaining to national security. My Op-Ed pieces have been featured in leading Indian publications like Kashmir Times and Kashmir Monitor.
I have also appeared as a panelist on international media including BBC and Al Jazeera. A few of my articles have also been published in the famed online platform Youth Ki Awaaz which is a United Nations awardee.
While working for the national daily Eastern Chronicle I did an investigative story about a rare breed of turtle found in northeast India's Tripura province, which was on the verge of extinction due to detrimental practices and the dearth of proper care. As an impact, a few months later the High Court of Tripura sought a report from the Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary, Government of Tripura to initiate necessary steps for demolishing the concrete and cemented embankment, which as per experts is one of the reasons behind deterrence of this turtle.
I have extensively covered the 2014 Indian general elections primarily focusing on Northeast India, during which I interviewed many famed politicians.
Among my volunteering experiences include I was a founding and core team member of the non-government organization Stop Acid Attack. It was an organization campaigning against acid attacks on women and working for the rehabilitation of the victims. I was responsible for handling the blog section of the campaign website.
During my undergraduate study, I was a student editor of the university newspaper ‘The Shardans.’ My task was covering stories, idea generation, finalizing the layout design, editing articles and leading a team of student journalists. Initially a four-page, black and white layout, during my editorship it was upgraded to a full-colored six-page version.
A few of the recognitions to my work include being enlisted as one of the top 10 contributors by the British magazine, Kettle and conferred the
Raftaar Live Writer of the Year 2013 award by a Delhi based magazine Raftaar Live. I was a recipient of the 2015 Sussex India Scholarship to study post-graduation in England.
On the sidelines, I have a keen interest in photography; love writing poems; an avid debater, a reclusive traveller and a voracious reader.
