India’s veteran journalist, columnist and author, Saeed Naqvi is in conversation with Pervaiz Alam on Cine Ink podcast series ‘London Vārta’. “Rajiv asked me, Saeed, what do you think about opening the embassy of Israel in India as some of my people are against it. Muslim leaders tell me that the Muslim vote will slip away from Congress if I allowed an Israeli Embassy,” reveals Naqvi. Formerly associated with the Statesman, Indian Express and Sunday Times, Saeed Naqvi is also known for his ground-breaking television interviews with world leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachov, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi, Henry Kissinger, Yitzhak Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Benazir Bhutto, Mohammad Najibullah and Hamid Karzai. As he completes 60 years in journalism, Saeed Naqvi admits playing a key role in forging diplomatic relations between India and Israel when Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister of India in 1984. Naqvi goes on to mention the names of the people who were critical of opening an Israeli embassy. They were Najma Heptullah, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel, he reveals hesitatingly. Naqvi says he advised Rajiv Gandhi to go ahead with his plans. He told him “Rajiv, they are out of touch, as always, from Muslim thinking.” But it was PM Narsimha Rao who actually allowed to establish full diplomatic relations between India and Israel in 1992, Naqvi says. “I have a plaque at home which says twelve trees have been planted on the hills of Jerusalem in the name of Saeed Naqvi for having played a role in Indo-Israeli relations,” Naqvi says on London Varta. “The Israeli State planted the saplings at a function where I was invited along with Khushwant Singh. We were given the plaques,” Naqvi adds. “That was a mistake, I accept it,” Saeed Naqvi confesses as he discusses the ongoing Israeli military campaign in Gaza, calling it “Genocide and ethnic cleansing”. He criticises the Indian response to Gaza situation and calls it “Lamenting!” Saeed Naqvi says Shimon Peres, former PM and President of Israel, once told him “Saeed, Indo- Israeli relations are like French perfume- they are to be smelled, not drunk.” In this long podcast, Saeed Naqvi talks about his exclusive interviews with Mikhail Gorbachov, Col. Qaddafi and Fidel Castro, and how they appeared before him. On a lighter note, Naqvi shares how he ended up with a world class scoop early in his career after getting access to Maharishi Yogi’s ashram in the Himalayas where The Beatles were meditating. Maharshi whispered a Mantra in my ear, and all doors were open, he says mischievously. Along with fellow photographer, Raghu Rai, Naqvi reported intimate details of the Ashram for his paper as he had access to John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Born in Mustafabad, a small town in UP, and growing up in Lucknow, Naqvi had spent ‘great time’ with some of the legendary Urdu poets and writers. He describes meeting Josh Malihabadi, Firaq Gorakhpuri, Majaz Lucknavi, Sajjad Zaheer, Razia Sajjad Zaheer and Rahi Masoom Raza. Naqvi recites his favourite Urdu poetry and also talks about his family and his wife, Aruna. Saeed Naqvi has authored several books including Reflections of an Indian Muslim (1993), The Last Brahmin Prime Minister (1996), Being the Other: The Muslim in India (2016) and The Muslim Vanishes (2022). The podcast with Saeed Naqvi was recorded in London on 5 November, 2024. London Vārta and other podcasts for Cine Ink are produced by Achala Sharma and Pervaiz Alam.
