Seemi Pasha is a distinguished Indian broadcast journalist, news presenter, and documentary filmmaker whose career spans over two decades. Born in New Delhi, she established a strong academic foundation in the city, attending the Convent of Jesus and Mary before reading English Literature at Lady Shri Ram College. She later earned a master’s degree in mass communication from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre at Jamia Millia Islamia—a location that would eventually serve as the focal point for her most acclaimed investigative work.
Pasha’s professional journey began in August 2005 at CNN-IBN (Network 18). During her eight-year tenure, she rose to the position of Senior Special Correspondent and Anchor, becoming a familiar face as the host of the flagship morning program, Breakfast with India. Her versatility was evident as she rotated through desks covering city news, features, and national politics. In September 2013, she joined India Today Television as Deputy Editor and Anchor. There, she hosted the analytical primetime show In Depth. Her dedication to field reporting was notably highlighted during the 2014 general elections, when she spent forty-five consecutive days travelling for the Election Express initiative, filing nightly stories from a different city each day. By October 2018, she transitioned to Tiranga TV News as Senior Executive Editor, where she led the newsroom and anchored Red Ink with Seemi Pasha.
Since December 2019, Pasha has operated as an independent journalist and filmmaker, contributing to platforms such as The Wire, The Quint, NewsLaundry, and Al Jazeera. She has also collaborated with Amnesty International India on campaign films. Beyond her media output, she supports leadership development as an Adviser-in-Residence at the LedBy Foundation.
Her independent career is defined by her deep dive into social and political issues affecting minorities. Her documentary Inside Jamia Nagar: A Story of Everyday Prejudice Against Indian Muslims (2019) explored the lived experiences of residents in South Delhi during the height of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests. The film received widespread acclaim for its nuanced analysis of a community under intense scrutiny. For this work, she was honoured with the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2023, presented by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud.
Pasha’s trophy cabinet reflects a career-long commitment to institutional accountability. In 2011, she won the News Television Award for Best Investigative Report after exposing malpractices within the Medical Council of India. In 2016, she received the Red Ink Award from the Mumbai Press Club for her political documentary Young and Restless in Bihar. Her insights into the anti-CAA movement also extend to literature; she contributed an essay to the 2020 anthology Shaheen Bagh and the Idea of India, edited by Seema Mustafa. Her writing examined the intersection of gender, civic participation, and constitutional rights during the historic women-led sit-in.
Throughout her body of work, Pasha has maintained a consistent focus on minority rights and the friction between government policy and human experience. Having navigated the shift from mainstream corporate newsrooms to independent digital media, she remains a significant voice in Indian civic discourse. She is currently based in Hyderabad.