Tarek Fatah

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tarek Fatah

• Tarek Fatah was a Pakistani-born Canadian writer, broadcaster, secularist, and liberal activist.

• During the 1960s, he was the leftist student leader.

• Fatah became a reporter for the Karachi Sun in 1970 and was an investigative journalist for Pakistan Television.

• He settled in Saudi Arabia and left Pakistan. Finally, He settled in Canada in 1987.

• While introducing himself, he would often say,
  

  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 civilization and made permanent refugees, sent in search of an oasis that turned out to be a mirage.”

• Fatah was a Member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) and worked on the staff of Premier Bob Rae.                                                                                                                                                                                                    

• From 1996 to 2006, Fatah hosted  Muslim Chronicle, a weekly Toronto-based current affairs discussion show on CTS and VisionTV focussing on the Muslim community.

• In 2001, Fatah founded Muslim Canadian Congress. He spoke out against the introduction of Sharia law.

• In 2008, Fatah’s book Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State was published. He has published many other books also like The Jew Is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism in 2010. This Book won the 2010 Annual Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Book Award in Politics and History.                                                                                                                                                                                             

• Fatah was awarded the Helen and Stan Vine Canadian Book Award in Politics and History.