43 Facts About Tarek Fatah

Tarek Fatah was a Pakistani-Canadian journalist and author.

Tarek Fatah was a Punjabi born into Islam and was a vocal critic of the Pakistani religious and political establishment, and the partition of India.

Tarek Fatah graduated with a degree in biochemistry from the University of Karachi but entered into journalism as a reporter for the Karachi Sun in 1970, before becoming an investigative journalist for Pakistan Television.

Tarek Fatah was a leftist student leader in the 1960s and 1970s and was imprisoned twice by military regimes.

Tarek Fatah left Pakistan and settled in Saudi Arabia, before emigrating to Canada in 1987.

Tarek Fatah stated that he eventually renounced his Pakistani citizenship due in part to the government's discrimination against Ahmadiyya.

Tarek Fatah was a long-time member of the Ontario New Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully in the 1995 provincial elections as the party's candidate in Scarborough North.

Tarek Fatah subsequently worked for Ontario NDP leader, Howard Hampton.

At a press conference on 2 October 2008, Tarek Fatah sharply criticized the federal New Democratic Party.

Tarek Fatah stated that he was a lifetime social democrat who had supported the NDP for 17 years but that he could no longer be affiliated with that party.

Tarek Fatah claimed that the NDP began opening its doors to Islamists under Alexa McDonough and that, under Jack Layton, he had seen them flood into the party.

Tarek Fatah said that Islamists in the NDP have pursued a campaign to instill a sense of victimhood among Muslim youth.

In early 2011, Tarek Fatah said that he received a threat via Twitter.

Tarek Fatah contacted Toronto Police Service and later met with two police officers from 51 Division.

Tarek Fatah said that police intelligence officers, one a Muslim officer who had shut down a previous investigation into a death threat, shut down the investigation and claimed that there was no threat.

Tarek Fatah favoured both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders for the United States presidential race in 2016.

Tarek Fatah said that many Muslim groups, and he himself, have recommended curbs on immigration from countries that harbour Islamist sympathisers, similar to policies promised by Trump.

From 1996 until 2006 Tarek Fatah hosted Muslim Chronicle, a weekly Toronto-based current affairs discussion show on CTS and VisionTV, which focused on the Muslim community.

Tarek Fatah cancelled at the last minute and failed to show up.

Tarek Fatah stated that he had cancelled his appearance because the moderator was changed shortly before the event was to begin, and because the audience was hostile.

Tarek Fatah claimed that he was warned by police of threats to his safety.

From 2009 to 2015, Tarek Fatah was a broadcaster on Toronto radio station CFRB Newstalk 1010.

From 2012 to 2023, Tarek Fatah has written a regular column for the Toronto Sun and was a frequent commentator on the now-defunct Sun News Network.

From 2018 to 2023, Tarek Fatah was a regular host of "What The Tarek Fatah" which was hosted by New Delhi Times on their YouTube channel.

Tarek Fatah had questioned the legitimacy of the state and had advocated support for Baloch separatists.

Tarek Fatah believed that if Balochistan won independence, the remainder of Pakistan would reunify with India.

Tarek Fatah rejected antisemitism as incompatible with Islam and had supported Israel's right to exist and Zionist projects; he had however called for an end to the "illegal and immoral" Israeli occupation of Palestine and anti-Arabism.

In 2003, Tarek Fatah broke with Irshad Manji in an article in the Globe and Mail in which he repudiated the thanks she gave him in the acknowledgment section of her book The Trouble with Islam.

Tarek Fatah wrote of Manji's book that it is not addressed to Muslims; it is aimed at making Muslim-haters feel secure in their thinking.

Tarek Fatah said that she was right about the systematic racism in the Muslim world and that there were many redeeming points in her memoir, which he overlooked in his rush to judge it.

Tarek Fatah had criticized the partition of India, calling the division of the country tragic and lamenting that his homeland of Punjab was sliced in two by the departing British to create the new state of Pakistan.

Tarek Fatah stated that the British partitioned India so that they might be able to combat Soviet influence through the establishment of British military installations in what was then northwestern colonial India.

Tarek Fatah refused to endorse the statement, according to the National Post, arguing that the statement did not address gender inequality and that honour killing has roots in Islam.

Tarek Fatah said that for the Commission to refer to Maclean's magazine and journalists as contributing to racism is bullshit, if you can use that word and that the commission has unfairly taken sides against freedom of speech in a dispute within the Canadian Muslim community between moderates and fundamentalists.

Michael Coren, a critic of Islam, has praised Tarek Fatah for being brave enough to admit the faults and failings of Islam.

Tarek Fatah was criticised for spreading "fake news" on multiple occasions.

In Jan 2020, he tweeted another video of Burqa-clad persons dancing to a Bollywood number, hinting that the video is from Shaheen Bagh CAA-NRC protest, whereas, it was found that Tarek Fatah had tweeted the same video twice in the past.

Tarek Fatah told them, "Indians need to stop giving such treatment to their seniors".

Tarek Fatah was one of the founders of the Muslim Canadian Congress in 2001, after the September 11 attacks and served as its communications director and spokesperson until 2006.

In July 2006, Tarek Fatah was the subject of an email campaign at Canadian media over his views.

Tarek Fatah resigned as the communications director of the MCC in August 2006, citing concerns about his safety and his family member's safety.

In June 2006, Elmasry said that Tarek Fatah is well known in Canada for smearing Islam and bashing Muslims.

Wahida Valiante, president of the CIC, told The Globe and Mail that Tarek Fatah's views are diametrically opposed to most Muslims.