Nahdi Saqqaf
Her Excellency Dr. Nahdi Saqqaf | |
|---|---|
| نهضي سقاف | |
 Prime Minister Nahdi Saqqaf, at a children's fundraiser in 2020. | |
| رئيسة وزراء المَدْحَاء
Prime Minister of Al Madhaa | |
| Assumed office September 2019 | |
| Monarch | Zuhr bint Ghazi Al Shams (2018 - present) |
| Preceded by | ? |
| رئيسة مجالس الشورى
Speaker of the Majlis al-Shura | |
| Assumed office September 2019 | |
| Monarch | Zuhr bint Ghazi Al Shams (2018 - present) |
| Preceded by | ? |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nahdi Hrishti Saqqaf 16 December 1987 Jordan University Hospital, Amman, Jordan |
| Height | 161 cm (5 ft 3 in) |
| Spouse | Rihaan Khan (m. 2010 - present) |
| Children | None |
| Parents |
|
| Alma mater | University of Jordan, (BA)
Zayed University, (MIA) Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, (Ph.D.) |
| Other name(s) | Nahdi Saqqaf Khan |
| Languages | Bangla, Arabic (along with Gulf, Jordanian and Hadhrami dialects), Hindustani (Hindi and Urdu), English, Kashmiri |
| Religion | Islam
Hinduism |
 | |
Dr. Nahdi Saqqaf ([nahðˤˈiː saqˈaːf]; Arabic: نَهَضِي سَّقّاف, romanized: Nāhḍī Sāqqāf; Bangla: নাহদি সাক্কাফ, born Nahdi Hrishti Saqqaf on 16 December 1987), also known as Nahdi Saqqaf Khan (née Saqqaf), is a Indo-Madhaa'in politician of Hadhrami, Kashmiri, Bengali and Tamil descent serving as the Prime Minister of Al Madhaa and Speaker of the Majlis, the Emirate's accompanying administrative council. She is the first female prime minister in both the Emirate and the Arab world, having been appointed to her position just before Her Excellency Najla Bouden, Tunisia's prime minister.
Early Life
Saqqaf was born Nahdi Hrishti Saqqaf on Wednesday, 16 December 1987, at the Jordan University Hospital in Amman, Jordan, as the oldest child of Harun Jawad-Lal Saqqaf, a mixed-race British-Madhaa'in national working as a historian and interim undergraduate professor of Law at the University of Jordan, and Dyuti Chithra Rai Sen, a professionally trained Bengali-Tamil Bharatanatyam dancer originally from Delhi.
Private Life
Family and Friends
Saqqaf has two younger siblings—Nilam, born in 1994, and Nur, born in 1999.
Saqqaf does not hold citizenship in either Jordan, the place of her birth, or India, her mother's homeland—prior to 10 December 1992, only children born to Indian fathers (not mothers) were eligible for citizenship by descent, while Jordanian nationality laws have historically operated under the jus sanguinis principle, the interpretation of which are extremely similar to the former Indian policy. She is also ineligible for naturalization, having only lived in the latter country until she was six, and after that returning, as aforementioned, to attend university there. Both of her younger siblings, however, hold OCI status.
Saqqaf has spoken at length about her regret in regards to not being able to speak Tamil, especially considering her maternal family's rich roots in the Tamilakam region—
Relationships
The Prime Minister first met Rihaan Khan—a two-year international criminal psychology graduate student from the University of Oxford who was seven years her senior—in 2005, just before her first term at the University of Jordan. He had booked the hotel room directly opposite hers and caught a glimpse of her at the reception desk on his last day in the country on holiday—reportedly, he stayed back to ask her her name and nearly missed his flight to Mumbai as a result.
Politics and Religion
The Prime Minister has always resided in the midst of a religiously diverse household, with the level of devotion fluctuating throughout the years—her father, who had been raised as part of the Shia branch of Islam, identified as a cultural Muslim by the time he began to work in Jordan, while her mother was a practicing Hindu who adhered to both Shaivite and Shakta traditions. None of their children, however, were ever forced to follow one religion instead of the other, and the family attended services and festivities at various mosques and temples—as a result, Nilam is a non-theistic Hindu, while Nur practices Sufism. She has never publicly spoken about her own religious beliefs, but has been observed continuing to visit both places of worship—most recently, she participated in Holi and Diwali festivities alongside the minority Hindu population in the capital city of Gu'la, and hosted Eid celebrations at the Prime Minister's official residence.