Peer was born in Seer, Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir . He attended school in the vale of Kashmir which was turned into an army camp later and continued his education in Aligarh after matriculation, away from his strife ridden birth place. He studied Political Science at Aligarh Muslim University and Journalism at Columbia University.

He started his career as a reporter at Rediff and Tehelka. During initial days of his career he was based in Delhi. He worked as an Assistant Editor at Foreign Affairs and is presently a writer in residence at Open Society Institute in New York. He also writes for other publications like The Guardian, Financial Times ,The National and New Statesman.He is the author of Curfewed Night (Random House, 2008/Scribner,2009).