https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Sangita_IyerSangita Iyer - Revision history2026-08-18T10:38:42ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sangita_Iyer&diff=123606&oldid=prev>Citation bot: Add: date. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by RoanokeVirginia | Category:Articles needing more detailed references | #UCB_Category 479/13852021-07-05T16:34:33Z<p>Add: date. | <a href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/BP:UCB" class="extiw" title="wp:UCB">Use this bot</a>. <a href="https://en.bharatpedia.org/wiki/BP:DBUG" class="extiw" title="wp:DBUG">Report bugs</a>. | Suggested by RoanokeVirginia | <a href="/w/index.php?title=Category:Articles_needing_more_detailed_references&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Category:Articles needing more detailed references (page does not exist)">Category:Articles needing more detailed references</a> | #UCB_Category 479/1385</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{short description|Indian-Canadian wildlife activist, journalist, biologist and filmmaker}}<br />
{{more footnotes|date=December 2020}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Sangita Iyer<br />
| birth_date = Sangita Iyer<br />
| birth_place = [[Kerala]], India<br />
| nationality = Indian-Canadian<br />
| citizenship = Canadian<br />
| education = <br />
| alma_mater = <br />
| occupation = [[Wildlife Filmmaker]], broadcast journalist, writer and biologist<br />
| known_for = <br />
| spouse = <br />
| relatives = <br />
| website = {{url|https://www.vfaes.org/more-about-sangita}}<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Sangita Iyer''' is an [[Indian Canadians|Indian-Canadian]] broadcast journalist, writer, biologist and documentary filmmaker.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Interview {{!}} Canada-based Sangita Iyer was inspired to participate in Kerala Women's Wall campaign in support of women's rights|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2018/dec/28/from-canadafor-the-wall-1917495.html|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref> She is known for her advocacy on wildlife conservation, especially for wild elephants, and for exposing the atrocities against Asian elephants by religious institutions. Iyer has been featured in the BBC News.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-07|title='The woman trying to save India's tortured temple elephants'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54026294|access-date=2020-09-07|website=BBC news article|language=en-US}}</ref>{{relevance inline|date=December 2020}} She is the founding executive director and president of the Voice for Asian Elephants Society, which was created in 2016 with the aim of protecting wild and captive elephants of India.{{citation needed lead|date=December 2020}}<br />
<br />
Iyer's debut documentary film, ''[[Gods in Shackles]]'', was based on the treatment of captive elephants in [[Kerala]]. The film was nominated{{specify|date=December 2020}} at the United Nations General Assembly, featured at the [[International Film Festival of India]] (IFFI) and has received over a dozen international film festival awards.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ramnath|first=Nandini|title=Documentary 'Gods in Shackles' on temple elephants is an eye-opener|url=https://scroll.in/reel/811893/documentary-gods-in-shackles-on-temple-elephants-is-an-eye-opener|access-date=2020-09-07|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Gavin Haines|first=Travel writer|title=New documentary exposes brutal treatment of India's temple elephants|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/india/articles/new-documentary-exposes-abuse-of-indias-sacred-elephants/|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The Telegraph|language=en-GB}}</ref> The documentary was inspired by the encounters and witnesses gathered by Iyer.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Poorvaja|first=S.|date=2016-07-21|title=Highlighting the plight of Kerala's captive elephants|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/Highlighting-the-plight-of-Kerala%E2%80%99s-captive-elephants/article14499662.ece|access-date=2020-09-07|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> She is also a ''[[National Geographic]]'' explorer,{{clarify|date=December 2020|problem=Isn't [[National Geographic Explorer]] a tv series?}} and has produced a 26-part short documentary series about Asian elephants, using the [[National Geographic Society]] storytelling award.{{citation needed lead|date=December 2020}}<br />
<br />
== Biography ==<br />
Sangita Iyer was born in [[Kerala]], [[India]]. She has worked in [[Kenya]], where she taught biology and ecology to [[Nairobi]] high school students in the early 1980s, and in [[Bermuda]] as the primetime news anchor and nature and wildlife reporter for the ABC/CBS affiliate, the Bermuda Broadcasting Company. She currently lives in [[Toronto]], Canada, where she has served as a videographer and host for Rogers TV network.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}<br />
<br />
== Career ==<br />
Iyer pursued her career in [[journalism]] in 1999 as an health and environmental journalist. She completed her [[Master of Arts|MA]] degree in [[environmental education]] and communication in 2012.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} She produced reports related to nature and wildlife for Discovery Channel science-news programme ''[[Daily Planet (TV series)|Daily Planet]]''.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} She co-founded the Bermuda Environmental Alliance in 2009 and she founded the Voice for Asian Elephants Society in 2016.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}<br />
<br />
In 2013, Iyer began to document the elephants in Kerala that are exploited by religious institutions, and created the documentary film ''[[Gods in Shackles]]'' (2016) which portrays the suffering faced by the temple elephants during cultural festivals.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-09-06|title=The woman trying to save India's tortured temple elephants|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54026294|access-date=2020-09-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=July 20, 2016|title=Gods in shackles: Plight of temple elephants|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Gods-in-shackles-Plight-of-temple-elephants/articleshow/53298377.cms|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> She decided to make the film after witnessing the torture faced by the elephants during a trip to India in December 2013.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-01-07|title=Seeing the Mistreatment of Elephants in India Was Haunting|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/sangita-iyer/animal-cruelty-elephants_b_4536577.html|access-date=2020-09-07|website=HuffPost Canada|language=en}}</ref> The documentary opened to positive reviews from critics and won international awards.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Naha|first=Abdul Latheef|date=2019-01-17|title=A moving work on gods in shackles|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/a-moving-work-on-gods-in-shackles/article26016797.ece|access-date=2020-09-07|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Iyer is the first woman to have made a documentary about captive elephants in Kerala.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}{{relevance inline|date=December 2020}}<br />
<br />
Iyer received the 2016 [[Nari Shakti Puraskar]] award from the then Indian President [[Pranab Mukherjee]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-09|title=Nari Shakti Puruskar Awardees: Full List|url=https://www.bestcurrentaffairs.com/nari-shakti-puruskar-awardees-full-list/|access-date=2020-09-07|website=Best Current Affairs|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=More about Sangita |url=https://www.vfaes.org/more-about-sangita|work=Voice for Asian Elephants Society|access-date=2020-10-03}}</ref> In addition, Iyer has received numerous academic awards and scholarships.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}<br />
<br />
== Controversies ==<br />
In November 2019, a petition was filed by Viswa Gaja Seva Samithi organisation in the [[Kerala High Court]] to prevent Iyer from conducting a [[mahout]] (elephant care) training summit called "Gentle Giants Summit" at a government-owned elephant rehabilitation centre in [[Thiruvananthapuram]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=November 12, 2019|title=Kerala HC seeks government views on plea against summit on elephants|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/hc-seeks-govt-views-on-plea-against-summit-on-elephants/articleshow/72013815.cms|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref> The plea claimed that she was a foreign national in contrast to the national policies and was also accused of misusing the official emblem of [[Government of Kerala|Kerala state government]] in the brochures for the three-day workshop.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} However, Iyer presented her [[Overseas Citizenship of India]] (OCI) card, affording her the privileges of Indian citizens,<ref>{{Cite web|title=A mammoth move|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/2020/jan/21/a-mammoth-move-2092152.html|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/why-kerala-must-protect-its-elephants-3-day-summit-state-involves-stakeholders-112444|access-date=2020-09-07|website=www.thenewsminute.com|title=Why Kerala must protect its elephants: 3-day summit in state involves stakeholders|date=16 November 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kerala mulls training programme for mahouts by world-renowned experts|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2019/mar/30/kerala-mulls-training-programme-for-mahouts-by-world-renowned-experts-1957699.html|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref> and the Kerala Forest Department had granted her the use of its emblem in their partnership on the summit.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}<br />
<br />
Iyer stated that she had been a victim of [[cyberbullying]] since the release of ''Gods in Shackles''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Woman who made documentary on elephants in Kerala faces cyber-bullying|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2019/nov/18/woman-who-made-documentary-on-elephants-in-kerala-faces-cyber-bullying-2063164.html|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref><br />
<br />
== See also ==<br />
<br />
* [[List of people from Kerala]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
== External links ==<br />
<br />
* {{IMDb name|id=nm4692806}}<br />
{{Nari Shakti Puraskar}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iyer, Sangita}}<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian environmentalists]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian women journalists]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women writers]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian documentary film directors]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian women biologists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian activists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women journalists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women writers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian documentary film directors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian women biologists]]<br />
[[Category:Indian expatriates in Canada]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian women writers]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian writers]]<br />
[[Category:People from Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian women film directors]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian documentary film producers]]<br />
[[Category:Canadian women film producers]]</div>>Citation bot