Aakar Patel is an Indian journalist, activist and author known for writing columns against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi.
Wiki/Biography
Aakar Patel was born in 1970 in Surat, Gujarat (52 years old in 2022). He was educated at Sir JJ English School, Surat, Gujarat and Mehtas Adventist School, Surat. He graduated from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.
appearance
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Akkar’s father’s name is Anil.
Akkar Patel’s parents
Aakar’s sister is Ashleshaa Khurana, a writer.
Akkar Patel’s sister
wife and children
Aakar married Tushita Patel on December 14, 1998.
Akkar Patel wedding photos
Akkar Patel and his wife
Relationships/Affairs
Akar reportedly had a relationship with a Muslim girl during his graduation and when he told his family about his girlfriend, his mother threatened her to hang himself.
religion
Akkar believes in Hinduism. In a 2015 interview, he said his family were Vaishnavites who worshiped Krishna.
Journalism
After completing his studies in Vadodara, he started his journalism career by joining The Asian Age as a trainee deputy editor. He then moved to Mumbai where he worked as a journalist at The Asian Times, Mumbai. After a spell at The Asian Age, he joined Deccan Chronicle and later worked at Dorling Kindersley. Later, he became the deputy editor of Deccan Chronicle and the editor-in-chief of Mid Day Multimedia Ltd. He was co-author of the Editors Guild’s “rights and wrongs” report on the 2002 Gujarat riots. In 2002, he returned to Surat and started working as the editor-in-chief of the Gujarati newspaper Divya Bhasker.
Amnesty International India
In 2015, he was appointed Head of Amnesty International India. While working for Amnesty International, he wrote columns in newspapers against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Narendra Modi. In an interview, the organization spoke of Akka and said,
We are delighted to have Aakar Patel join us. Amnesty International India is one of the movement’s three country offices, established to increase our impact in countries where our global influence is growing and where we continue to face human rights challenges. Aka’s commitment to human rights in his journalism and writing makes him ideally suited to take on this important role. “
Many BJP followers called him anti-national after reading his column. During his time with Amnesty International India, the organization was raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation, Home Ministry and Enforcement Directorate. In 2016, a case was registered against Amnesty International India under Section 124-A after Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, accused Amnesty International India of being seditious. Many people started criticizing Akkar and tweeted that Akkar was a Muslim and his name was Akkar Ahmed Patel.
dispute
In 2022, Bengaluru airport authorities caused controversy when they prevented Akar from boarding a flight to Boston in the United States. According to reports, he was accused of violating FCRA provisions and hence the CBI issued a ‘Letter of Attention Notice’ (LOC) to him in the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) violation case. He was traveling to the United States to give lectures but was not allowed to leave the country. He requested the Gujarat court to allow him to participate in overseas assignments and lecture series organized by various universities in the United States until May 30. The court granted his permission, but he claimed that even after being checked, he was stopped at the airport. Court’s permission.
Facts/Trivia
- Akka enjoyed reading translated texts in Greek and Roman.
- He enjoys writing and reading Urdu. In 2014, he was the first person to translate Saadat Hasan Manto’s book Why I Write into Hindi.
Books translated by Akkar Patel
- Akar said in an interview that when protests were sparked by the death of journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017, he attended one of them, where he was inspired by the meaning of the word “dissent.”
- In 2021, he wrote the book “Our Hindu Rashtra”, which compared India and Pakistan and talked about media perspectives. In the same year, he also wrote another book, “The Price of the Modi Years”, which talked about Modi’s re-election, Modi’s charisma and Modi’s management.
Cover of the book “Our Hindu Rashtra”
- He was often found enjoying drinking and smoking.
Akal Patel drinks and smokes
- He is a passionate animal lover and often posts photos of animals on social media.
Akkar Patel and his pet dog
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education