On August 15 1949, The Siasat Urdu Daily was borne out of the acumen
and foresight of two visionaries
Abid Ali Khan & Mehboob Hussain Jigar
Exactly two years after India gained independence and almost a year
after Hyderabad’s accession to India, they decided to start an Urdu
newspaper. Siasat would then serve as a bridge between the Deccan’s
Muslims who opted to remain in India rather than migrate to Pakistan.
Alongside the media outlet, Khan and Jigar did their part not only with
media initiatives but also philanthropy and Urdu promotion.
This was the only Urdu Daily which worked to promote understanding
between the Muslim community by promoting the ideals of
egalitarianism and secularism that Khan and Jigar held dearly.
According the Indian Readership Survey and Indian Newspaper Society,
the outlet has always been a pioneer and leader in Urdu news. Siasat
was the first in adopting every new technology — be stone-based
litho printing, offset printing, rotary printing, or colour printing.
Siasat was also the first Urdu outlet to launch an e-paper. Former Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh was present for that launch as well.
This online English edition was launched in 2011 with the goal of
furthering the Khan’s and Jigar’s vision via the growing presence of
independent news websites .
