After suffering from a prolonged illness, Tarek Fatah, a renowned Pakistan-born Canadian columnist and famous television personality, passed away at 73 on April 24 in Canada.
He had cancer and survived with two daughters, Natasha and Nazia.
Fatah’s daughter, Natasha, announced his death through Twitter. She tweeted, “Lion of Punjab. Son of Hindustan. Lover of Canada. Speaker of truth. Fighter for justice. Voice of the down-trodden, underdogs, and the oppressed. @TarekFatah has passed the baton on… his revolution will continue with all who knew and loved him. Will you join us? 1949-2023”.
Tarek Fatah was born in Karachi, Pakistan, on November 20, 1949. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he was a leader of the communist student movement. During these decades, he was imprisoned twice by consecutive military regimes in Pakistan. In 1977, General Zia-ul Haq charged him with sedition and barred him from working as a journalist in the country. Then he moved to Canada in 1987 and worked as a journalist.
Fatah grew increasingly critical of Islamic fundamentalism and its influence on Muslim communities globally in the late 1990s. He wrote several books on the subject, including “Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State” and “The Jew is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism”.
Throughout his long public career, he frequently admired Hinduism and took pride in Indian civilisation. He also presented a show on Zee News called ‘Fatah Ka Fatwa.’ Islamist Maulanas frequently targeted him for his forthright and direct criticism of extremist Islam. That’s why many Jihadi is celebrating his death.
Fatah was also responsible for germinating the idea of renaming Aurangzeb Road in Delhi when he toured India in early 2015.
During a speech, he made a comment regarding the importance of Indian Muslims in destroying the dreaded ISIS (Islamic State). He said, “You are the only people who can destroy ISIS. But you have to do one thing. Will you be prepared to change the name of Aurangzeb Road to Dara Shikoh Road?”. Later on, this idea of renaming the road was taken forward by BJP MP Maheish Girri.
He often introduced himself as “I am an Indian born in Pakistan, a Punjabi born in Islam, an immigrant in Canada with a Muslim consciousness, grounded in a Marxist youth. I am one of Salman Rushdie’s many Midnight’s Children: we were snatched from the cradle of a great civilisation and made permanent refugees, sent in search of an oasis that turned out to be a mirage”.
