Anjana Om Kashyap is an Indian journalist and anchor. She is an executive editor of the Hindi news channel Aaj Tak.
She is an Emphasized Editor along with qualities such as Open-minded and Fearless.
Early life and education
Further, she was born in Ranchi to Omprakash Tiwari, in the Bhumihar caste. In fact, Omprakash was a doctor on short-service-commission with the Indian Army, and served during the Bangladesh War of Independence.
She had her initial schooling at Loreto Convent, a local Catholic school and then, from Delhi Public School, Ranchi. She went on to pursue a honours in botany, from under University of Delhi, despite having no natural inclination for science.
Anjana appeared for the All India Pre Medical Test but failed to pass. However, at that time anjana was a prolific debater and she acquired strong leadership qualities from childhood.
She became the head-girl in both the schools and the president of her college hostel.
After a few years, she enrolled at the Delhi School of Social Work, for her post-graduation; Anjana mentions of the curricula and field-visits inculcating a spirit of public activism in her.
Personal life
Anjana married to Mangesh Kashyap, an officer of the 1995 Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Police Service cadre. She met Mangesh during her days at Delhi University.
Mangesh was the erstwhile Addl. Deputy Commissioner of the Delhi Police and since 2016, has been the Chief Vigilance Officer of South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
They have a son and a daughter.
Career
Anjana’s first job was as a counselor at the Daewoo Motors; however, she did not like the job and resigned after about a year. She then joined an NGO in the roles of a legal counselor, for slum-dwellers.
Journalism
In the early 2000’s, Anjana opted for a diploma in journalism, from Jamia Millia Islamia, primarily on the insistence of her husband. Upon graduation, she was inducted in Doordarshan with some aid from acquaintances.
She was assigned to the news-desk of Aankhon Dekhi, an investigative show but was allotted infrequent reporting duties, as well.
Within an year, she moved to Zee News. She wanted to be an anchor all through-out; the channel found her lacking in speaking finesse and employed her in producing roles.
In further years of Zee, she passed the auditions and occasionally used as an anchor for special features.
In 2007, she joined News 24, where she for the first time, assigned a mainstream role at anchoring in the form of moderating an evening debate show.
She left the venture in early 2012 and moved to Star News. However, it was shut down months later. Anjana thus became one of the several journalists, to follow her immediate ex-boss at News24 – Supriya Prasad from News 24 to Aaj Tak, around late 2012.
In fact, she is Executive Editor in Aaj Tak at present.
Views
Anjana raised strong voice against reservations in India for socially oppressed classes and likewise affirmative actions.
She described the system as infested by ‘termites’, which brought neither social mobility nor economic affluence for the target-populace.
She mentions her Brahminical upbringing and the social tensions prevalent in the aftermath of enacting Mandal Commission recommendations, as contributing factors.
The Caravan
A long-form piece over The Caravan has been highly critical of Anjana’s journalism, noting the aggressive propagation of Hindutva centered ideologies and biased reporting in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Kashyap was from those selected reporters who were taking interview of Narendra Modi during 2019 Elections. Kashyap refused to pose any challenging question to him.
A self-delivered monologue about Modi, in the immediate aftermath of the 2014 elections was basically a hagiographic sketch, that carefully omitted any and all criticisms including his questionable roles in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Kashyap’s reporting of the 2019 Supreme Court proceedings on Ayodhya title dispute heavily toed a pro-BJP line with numerous debates and special shows.
That spanned avast avenue from seeking the reasons behind a routine deferment of the case inquiring about why the Muslims were unable to compromise with a mere 5 acre land, and the timeline of Ram Mandir construction.
All along with provocative headlines and audience-polls; it ended with welcoming the final verdict in favour of the Hindus, as a sacred occasion.
Unknown Facts related to Anjana
While reporting about the 2019 Bihar encephalitis outbreak, Anjana entered the neonatal ICU at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital and started haranguing the on-duty paediatrician.
She was widely criticised for her inappropriate behaviour. The Indian Medical Association subsequently filed a complaint against her, for “endangering the lives of children”, in an attempt to gain “publicity”.
She also documented to have misreported news on certain occasions according to fact checking organisations such as Alt News.
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