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Ismat Ara on Muck Rack

Ismat Ara

Verified
(She/Her)
New Delhi
As seen in: The Hindu, Medium, MSN India, HuffPost, The Economic Times, The Times of India, TIME, Aol, Navbharat Times, Al Jazeera English, Frontiers and
Covers:  Covers politics, crime, gender, human rights, environment and culture.
Journalist @timesofindia | Author I Bylines @frontline_India @TIME @AJEnglish @TheWire_in @Firstpost @BBChindi @Newslaundry @The_Hindu | ismat123raft@gmail.com

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Ismat Ara’s Biography

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Ismat Ara is a New Delhi-based journalist who asks difficult questions and refuses easy answers. For over eight years, she has reported on everything India: its people, politics, protests, policies, crime, culture, languages, women, and environment. Occasionally, she writes about food, films, books, and monuments, because even chaos needs a pause.

With 500+ stories to her name, including hard-hitting investigations, breaking news, and exclusive interviews, her work has appeared in major Indian…

Ismat Ara’s Journalist Portfolio

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What's Keeping Madrasa Girls Away From Education? Unpaid Salaries, Govt Neglect, Lack of Awarenes...

What's Keeping Madrasa Girls Away From Education? Unpaid Salaries, Govt Neglect, Lack of Awarenes...

Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh): "Becoming a doctor - that's what my father dreams for me," Insha Rajput, one of th…

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A Year After Hathras Brutality, Victim's Family Awaits Justice Amidst Threats

A Year After Hathras Brutality, Victim's Family Awaits Justice Amidst Threats

New Delhi: "This is a very difficult time for us. I hope nobody has to ever go through what my sister went th…

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'Can Rape Happen in Daylight?': Lawyer for Hathras Accused Still Relies on 'Honour Killing' Claim

'Can Rape Happen in Daylight?': Lawyer for Hathras Accused Still Relies on 'Honour Killing' Claim

Hathras, Uttar Pradesh: "I am fighting this case pro bono because I genuinely believe they are innocent," Mun…

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Out of Work, Weavers of Famed Banarasi Silk Sarees Forced to Push Kids into Child Labour

Out of Work, Weavers of Famed Banarasi Silk Sarees Forced to Push Kids into Child Labour

Varanasi: A boy, about eight years old, sitting on a raised threshold in Varanasi's Bajardiha, hands out tea …

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'Tear Them Apart': How Hindutva WhatsApp Group Demanded Murder, Rape of Muslims in Delhi Riots

'Tear Them Apart': How Hindutva WhatsApp Group Demanded Murder, Rape of Muslims in Delhi Riots

New Delhi: At 11:44 pm on February 26, a message sent on a WhatsApp group boasted of the murders of two men. …

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Exclusive: Aligarh Hospital MLC Report on Hathras Victim Shatters UP Police's 'No Rape' Claim

Exclusive: Aligarh Hospital MLC Report on Hathras Victim Shatters UP Police's 'No Rape' Claim

New Delhi: Contrary to the Uttar Pradesh Police claim that the Dalit teenager at Hathras who succumbed to her…

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Articles

Crowd-funded anti-bribery portal shuts after amassing 2 lakh users in 48 hrs

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By Ismat Ara Verified
| Outliers: A TOI+ series
NEW DELHI: Bribes.fyi began as a side project and, within 48 hours, clocked 5 million requests and 2 lakh new users. It shut down as suddenly as its meteoric rise took social media by surprise. Built by 20-year-old Delhi BTech student Aryan Nishad, it displayed a neon-red map of India for anonymous reports of alleged bribe demands. By Aug 17, it had logged reports from 253 cities—against police, RTOs, and revenue and land records offices, and passport offices.
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From Chakrata to North Pole, 15-year-old Lucky Rawat set to return home with new dream Original

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By Ismat Ara Verified
| Outliers: A TOI+ series
NEW DELHI: When Lucky Rawat looks out from his Moscow hotel window, the Arctic already feels almost like a dream. Outside are trees, an open stretch of road, a parking lot lined with cars, something the 15-year-old Class 10 student from Chakrata, Uttarakhand, loves. After days aboard a nuclear-powered icebreaker in the Arctic Ocean, Lucky is set to fly back to India on Aug 15.
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Twin sea-route squeeze may double freight costs, force 35-day detour: Shipowners' body chief Original

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By Ismat Ara Verified
| Outliers: A TOI+ series
NEW DELHI: India-bound cargo could face an additional 30-35-day voyage and double freight costs with twin disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz and the mounting concerns at southern Red Sea-Bab el-Mandeb, the Indian National Shipowners' Association (INSA) warned on Wednesday. The sinking of Indian cargo vessel MSV Faize Noore Oliya—that capsized in the Red Sea after being struck by a projectile off Yemen on Tuesday -- has also heightened concerns.
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Interview

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What was your first job as a journalist?

I was told to go to a protest spot in New Delhi and observe everything around me. It was for an internship at a newspaper. I returned with a few notes and a potential story idea. The editor sat me down, printed my copy on a sheet of paper, marked all the ways the article could have been better with a red pen.

How is social media changing news?

While trolls and hateful individuals have used social media time and again for shaming and humiliating journalists, especially women, social media has also empowered many individuals from rural backgrounds to use it as a tool of publishing.

Did you work for your high school newspaper? If so, what did you do there?

I just always dreamed of having a school newspaper!