Dia Chakravarty

Dia Sudeshna Chakravarty (Bengali: দিয়া সুদেষ্ণা চক্রবর্তী; born 1984) is a Bangladeshi-born British political activist, former political director of the TaxPayers' Alliance, singer, and Brexit Editor of The Daily Telegraph.

Dia Chakravarty
দিয়া সুদেষ্ণা চক্রবর্তী
Born
Dia Sudeshna Chakravarty

1984 (age 35–36)
Sylhet District, Bangladesh
NationalityBangladeshi
CitizenshipBritish
EducationLaw
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
OccupationPolitical activist, singer, tax consultant, barrister, journalist
Years active2012–present
TitlePolitical Director of the TaxPayers' Alliance
Spouse(s)
Duncan Hall
(
m. 2007)
Parent(s)Supriyo Chakravarty (father)
Sultana Kamal (mother)
RelativesKamal Uddin Ahmed (maternal grandfather)
Sufia Kamal (maternal grandmother)
Musical career
OriginLondon, England
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2011–present
LabelsLaser Vision

Early life

Chakravarty was born in Bangladesh to parents of two different faiths.[1] Her Muslim mother, Sultana Kamal, is a lawyer and human rights activist who runs a legal aid organisation in Bangladesh. Her Hindu father, Supriyo Chakravarty, is also a lawyer.[2] Her parents both decided to keep their respective religions after marriage.[1] She is her parents' only child.[2] Her maternal grandmother is poet Sufia Kamal.[3]

Because of Chakravarty's parents' and grandparents' activism and anti-fundamentalist stance, her family have been under threat on and off her whole life. She has grown up with threatening telephone calls and her home has been firebombed twice.[1]

Chakravarty attended a school in Sylhet her parents set up which taught the British Council-regulated O-level curriculum and examination syllabus. The school took students up to the age of 14, after which her schooling was mostly tutorial-based.[2] Later, she entered the mainstream education system to continue with her O-levels.[1] She achieved seven O-levels.[2]

She then got a partial scholarship[1] to sixth-form college in Oxford, to board and sit her A-levels,[2] after her parents remortgaged their family home, she left for the UK[1] in 2001.[3] Her lawyer mother, who had spent most of her life doing voluntary work until then, moved to Dhaka, to take up a full-time job.[1] Chakravarty read Law at the University of Oxford[2] and became a barrister in 2008.[3]

Political activism

Chakravarty started her career as a tax consultant in London before moving into communication and public affairs.[2] From July 2012 to December 2013, she was a deputy director at The Freedom Association where she advocated for freedom of the press, free speech, and freedom of expression.[2][4] In January 2014, she was appointed political director of the TaxPayers' Alliance.[2][5]

Chakravarty moved into communications and public affairs.[6] She worked for Banking on Change, a global partnership between Barclays Bank and two international charities seeking to extend access to basic financial services through savings-led microfinance.[7]

In August 2014, Chakravarty appeared on BBC Two's Newsnight, discussing consultancy culture in the public sector.[8] In November 2014[9] and March 2015,[10][11] and October 2016,[12] she appeared on BBC One's Question Time. In January 2015, she contributed on BBC Radio 4's Any Questions?[13]

In July 2017, Chakravarty, a prominent Leave campaigner during the UK EU membership Referendum campaign, was appointed Brexit Editor of The Daily Telegraph.[6][7][14][15]

In September 2017, Chakravarty appeared on Question Time.[16] In October, Chakravarty appeared on Newsnight, discussing Brexit.[17] In the same month, she was listed at Number 100 by commentator Iain Dale in his '100 Most Influential on the Right'.[18]

Singing career

Chakravarty took her first music lesson from Prateek Enda in Sylhet[19] and had an early start in her musical training in Rabindranath Tagore songs.[3] Although she specialises in Bengali music,[2] since moving to the UK she has added Hindi songs to her repertoire.[3] She now takes lessons from London-based singer-master Anuradha Roma Choudhury.[19]

Chakravarty performs in London and abroad.[2][3] In August 2014, her debut album A Bloom in Vain and Other Songs was released.[3][19][20]

Personal life

In October 2007, Chakravarty married Duncan Hall. She met her husband while at school and decided to settle in England after completing her university and Bar examinations.[2] Chakravarty is also involved with Udayan, a Bengali cultural group.[3]

Discography

Albums
Album Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
A Bloom in Vain and Other Songs
  • Released: 22 August 2014
  • Label: Laser Vision
  • Formats: CD, Digital Download
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See also

References
  1. Chakravarty, Dia (21 November 2014). "The Importance of Individual Choice". Standpoint. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  2. Singh, Rani (7 June 2014). "Daughter of Famous Activists Leading a Life of Activism and Music". Asian Voice. 43 (5). p. 9. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  3. "Tagore in Bollywood?". The Daily Star. 26 June 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  4. "Congratulations and best wishes to Dia Chakravarty". The Freedom Association. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 18 December 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  5. "Political Director". The TaxPayers' Alliance. Archived from the original on 28 September 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  6. Ponsford, Dominic (7 July 2017). "Leave campaigner Dia Chakravarty appointed Brexit editor of the Telegraph". Press Gazette. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  7. "Dia Chakravarty joins The Telegraph as Brexit Editor". The Daily Telegraph. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  8. "BBC Newsnight: Dia Chakravarty discusses consultancy culture in the public sector". tpabroadcast. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  9. Lawson, Mark (21 November 2014). "How Question Time handled the Rochester and Strood byelection". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  10. "Question Time". BBC Parliament. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. "Question Time". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  12. "27/10/2016". BBC One. 27 October 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  13. "Norman Baker MP, Sadiq Khan MP, Dia Chakravarty and Francis Maude MP". Any Questions. BBC Radio 4. 17 January 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  14. Lock, Rob (7 July 2017). "Dia Chakravarty joins The Telegraph as Brexit Editor". Response Source. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  15. O'Neill, Lydia (10 July 2017). "The Telegraph appoints Brexit editor". Newsworks. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  16. "Question Time, 21/09/2017". Any Questions. 21 September 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  17. Tarrant-Cornish, Taryn (10 October 2017). "One in four chance of a no-deal Brexit, UK must prepare to fall off cliff, warns expert". Sunday Express. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  18. "Iain Dale's 100 most influential people on the Right 2017. May tops it. Davis is second. And Davidson third". ConservativeHome. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  19. "A Bloom in Vain launched". New Age. Bangladesh. 24 August 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  20. Rahman, Mosabber (27 October 2014). "A Bloom in Vain: Dia's melodious tribute to four master poets". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
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