Tarek Fatah
The following is an opinion piece. For any errors, please leave comment in the comments section below.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Tariq Fatah is an insidious, foul-mouthed, professional provocateur who has found himself a profitable niche. He ridicules his nation, country, ethnic group, and religion. He poses as a liberal but most of his fans appear to be rabid right-wing ultra-nationalists. Indian TV channels love having him on their shows as Fatah engages in the venomous bashing of Pakistan and Islam. Although there is no shortage of feel-good ‘Pakistan bashing’ shows, what sets Fatah apart is that he is a Muslim and of Pakistani origin. This is his value proposition; the willingness to sell out his country, his faith, and whatever else his battered soul may have to offer. In short, he is the proverbial useful idiot for the Hindutva masses. It is sad to see a septuagenarian grovel and bootlick right-wing fascists for money. The way he humiliates himself for cheap publicity and attention is embarrassing to even a bystander. Yet, this is the path he has chosen for himself. Karma has left him cancer-ridden and hobbling with the aid of a cane. Perhaps he will change his way and do some good in this world. Given his record, this is wishful thinking.
The man is full of shameless contradictions. In this interview, he admits he writes his book to please haters of Islam.
Fatah fancies himself an intellectual but his academic and professional background is quite humble. Ever the journalistic martyr, he never actually studied journalism. According to his LinkedIn profile, he majored in Biochemistry at Karachi University. Pakistan still provided him with decent jobs in television and print. Ungrateful, he left Pakistan and moved to Saudi Arabia. Presumably, he never dared speak against Islam or Arabs while ingratiating himself with Saudi’s booming petro-economy. He stayed their for many years – never leaving based on his much touted liberal principles. Ungrateful, He left Saudi Arabia for Canada. To secure an income, he tried his hand at computer programming and acquired a 2-year certificate from George Brown College at the tender age of 43. He then enrolled in Seneca College for another certificate in technical writing at the tender of age of 51. He has zero academic pedigree in journalism, geo-politics, or comparative religion. He worked at St. Michael’s hospital as a humble technical writer till 2009. This means Fatah, the self-proclaimed intellectual, was a mere technical writer at the age of 60! This was the sum and peak of his professional career.
Fatah allegedly created the PMUNA (Progressive Muslim Union of North America) email list moderated by Fatah himself. According to the dr.maxtor blog, he ended up alienating everyone to the point that the group collapsed within a year after a multitude of resignations.
He founded the very official and serious-sounding “Muslim Canadian Congress” consisting of less than a dozen people. He was part of the World Social Forum in 2007 in Karachi, Pakistan which is most curious. It is unknown if he was actually in Pakistan for this event.
Having been a failure most of his life, he found a more profitable way to earn his bread by making hateful statements to a large, eager audience. The subject would be Pakistan or Muslims and the audience would be Hindutva nationalists on social media.
The world would never have heard of this technical writer if it were not for Toronto Sun, Huffington Post, and Indian Media giving him a platform to spread his hate-filled rants.
Unrelenting Hypocrisy
Fatah is the ultimate hypocrite.
- He calls himself a Muslim yet he dislikes most things Islam and Muslim.
- He is a Marxist but doesn’t live in China, Cuba, Vietnam. He prefers capitalist Canada.
- He calls himself a liberal but he supports fascist organizations such as the RSS.
- He is a leftist but supports right-wing political parties such as BJP.
- He claims to speak for Muslims but his Canadian Muslim organizations consist of Tarek and about 11 other idiots.
- He claims Pakistan has an identity complex but calls himself an Indian born in Pakistan with a Marxist grounding living in liberal Canada or some other gibberish.
- He attacks Indian Muslims for having Muslim names but has never changed his own very Muslim name: Tarek Fatah (victory) or his children’s names: Nazia.
- He is a Marxist who spews anti-China commentary to please Hindutva fans.
- He claims to be a journalist but constantly peddles fakes news on Twitter.
- He champions gay rights but only outside of India where he will not find a ready audience.
- He criticizes Punjabis who speak Urdu yet does speak Punjabi himself on Indian TV. He attends Urdu literature events.
- He hates Pakistan and loves India but his father left Bombay for Karachi.
- As a staunch secularist, he lived in Saudia Arabia for 10 years but now decries and criticizes it at every opportunity.
- Fatah participated in protests against Israel but later wrote a book, “The Jew is Not my Enemy”. (Wrongly assuming that ALL Muslims consider Jews their enemy.)
- Fatah stands for nothing. He supported both Trump and Bernie Sanders — whatever is advantageous and expeditious at the moment.
- Fatah calls himself an Indian but advocates for its dissolution in front of Khalistanis. Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9ncaH657sQ
- He claims to be a representative of Muslims but walks, talks, and acts like an Islamophobe. (See section below).
- He is an opportunist even in Canada, switching from NDP to Liberal party to People’s Party.
- He pretends to be a Muslim but says he doesn’t go to mosques because he is surrounded by terrorists.
Upon quitting the small group of friends calling itself Muslim Canadian Congress, here are some reactions from the community:
Response to Fatah’s Editorial by Samrina Wadhera, Toronto:
Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress complains when the media make gross generalizations about Muslims, but has no problems making even bigger ones himself … Imagine if someone had made similar comments about Canada’s Jewish or Hindu communities, stating that their temples and synagogues were being overrun by “a fascist cult” of supremacy? It would border on hate. So why should his accusations about the Muslim community be accepted as legitimate discourse? Fatah’s words bear the mark of hypocrisy. He regularly uses his weekly television show and position within the community to spread his own political views…Rather than promoting himself as a champion of the Muslim cause, Fatah and the à-la-carte critics like him should admit that by trying to project their narrow-minded views on the community, they’re no better than the “fascist” imams they claim to detest.
Jean Claude from Toronto, Canada writes :
The problem is less Mr. Fatah’s views than his behavior and his consistently anti-Muslim stance. I am sure any community will be offended when someone represents himself as his community’s voice by launching a sustained smearing campaign against his own people. His “innovative views” are only meant to remain in media limelight. They are not based on any depth of knowledge about the community or Islam. Another prominent aspect of his behavior is to represent himself as the “victim” and community as an enemy. Examples abound in his writings such as when he goes to a mosque he sees himself surrounded by terrorists. In his present statement he equates a statement condemning his behavior to a “fatwa” against him. Even a child knows that a “fatwa” can be issued only by a religious authority under strict conditions and on extremely important issues…His efforts to become Salman Rushdie will fail. Combating fundamentalism is one thing but launching a smearing campaign against every Muslim is an outright bigotry.
C M from London, Canada writes :
So is Mr. Fatah leaving because of ‘an increasing heavy load of work’, to get out of the ‘limelight’, for security issues or to write his book? I suspect that Tarek sold out a long time ago and is now thinking it’s time to cash in. There is no shortage of people who are frightened of Muslims who actually believe in their religion, pray regularly and even dress modestly. With all the media attention Fatah has received, he should be able to retire comfortably with the royalties from his future book.
Mohammed D from Toronto, Canada writes:
This is a happy day for the thousands of muslims living in toronto. This man had absolutely no knowledge of Islam. His views totally misrepresented islam. I hate the fact that many people thought he was speaking for the community. This man has put many false images of islam into people’s heads (just looking at all of the comments posted). I am glad he resigned, and I never want to see his face on television again when it comes to representing the muslim community.
Dr. Maxtor (Blogger) writes rather viciously:
So our favorite corpulent, cancerous, Pakistani charlatan up north recently bloviated that while he disagreed with Geert Wilders anti-Muslim garbage, he supported his presence and “right” to spread his poison in Canada. Freedom of speech, right? Not so fast, biryani boy. Recall that T-fat didn’t extend that same courtesy towards Zakir Naik and Sheikh Riyad Al-Haq, and in fact campaigned to keep them from entering Canada. So why the inconsistency hypocritical hippo? Remember when George Galloway wasn’t let in thanks to a smear campaign by the Canadian JDL? Where was teabagging T-Fat then?
Few Pakistanis know about Fatah, the few that know him have this to say:
Tarek Fatah is an inconsequential and irrelevant man, used by the Indian State and its intelligence agencies, to use hyperbolic, exaggerated and falsified propaganda against Islam and Pakistan. His forte is a habitual desire to have run-ins with Muslims, Pakistanis, Saudi or otherwise, and to start unnecessary arguments on Islam, a subject matter he is neither an adherent, nor a historian, a specialist of. His attempt to garner publicity stunts emanate from the mundane to the preposterous. Most recently he entered into a “Twitter” battle with US rapper Talib Kweli, in his ‘attempt’ to antagonize any and everybody he deems as a lesser Muslim than him. This man is truly an old, fickle, and sad character.
Twitterstorm: Tarek Fatah vs. Talib Kweli on Islam and racism | Ricochet
Other than the airtime given graciously by the Indian media, Mr Fatah has neither standing nor repute of any kind, and no one in Pakistan bothers much about his incessant diatribes. For us, he is not much more than a has-been, with little or no significance, and hence, he is seen exactly as such – with no relevance whatsoever. It is indeed interesting though that Mr Fatah has been accused by the Indian media not just for spewing venom against his country of origin, Pakistan, but even challenging the patriotism of Indian Muslims, and hence causing Indian Muslims to stand up to him and his baseless allegations against that community. Mr Fatah is also a cheerleader for a specific group of Indians who enjoy his television appearances where for lack of an argument, purpose or reason, he is allowed to spew venom much to the amusement of the Indian masses.
Failed Political Career in Canada
According to Dr.Maxotr, “he has been unable to win even the most insignificant political office. In reality, Fatah’s sudden “moderate Muslim” martyr complex was the result of him switching political parties from the NDP to the Liberals. Then came his “resignation” from the sock puppet MCC (he didn’t even cite death threats in his resignation letter, instead claiming he needed the time to work on his “memoirs” and work for Liberal party politician, Bob Rae). Rae came in third confirming Fatah’s political Midas touch. Ever the gracious loser, Fatah then went on a tirade about how “Islamists” had cost his candidate the nomination. Right, anybody who doesn’t vote for your way is an “Islamist.” Any wonder why this charlatan is so wildly unpopular?”
Agency
Srivastava Group
In an interview with CBC News, Fatah admitted his columns were being republished in the New Delhi Times and said Srivastava paid him a small fee for it, though he declined to specify how much. New Delhi Times is a newspaper linked to a group with ties to a huge international network of fake news websites. Fatah was also listed as the executive director of an NGO called Baluchistan House, described as a think-tank focusing on the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The region has seen ongoing insurgencies against the Pakistani government by Baloch groups seeking independence. The now-defunct Baluchistan House website was registered by Ankit Srivastava, as were other sites seemingly built for Fatah, such as whatthefatah.com and whatthefatah.net, which never published any content. According to Fatah, the What the Fatah project is a proposed video series featuring him that he’s working on with Srivastava, while the Baluchistan House website registration may have come from an exiled Baloch leader living in London.
“I was merely involved and it never really took off, the Baluchistan House forum,” he said. Fatah’s Baluchistan House organized a panel in 2017 in Geneva, where he appeared alongside Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki to discuss Balochistan’s economic situation. Czarnecki, a conservative politician critical of Pakistan and supportive of India, was amongst the MEPs who visited Kashmir in October. Fatah said he was not involved with the visit and did not help facilitate it. He also said that while he had met Czarnecki a few times in UN meetings, he didn’t speak or meet with Czarnecki outside of that.
“I was merely involved and it never really took off, the Baluchistan House forum…” — Tarek Fatah
Fatah said he was not aware that Srivastava was running a network of fake news sites.
“Why would he do that?… (it must be) some ridiculous Indian bureaucrat’s idea of propaganda.” — Tarek Fatah playing dumb or truly dumb by easily being taken in.
Concordia’s Schofield said the network’s promotion of Baloch interests clearly marks it as serving the Indian government’s interests. He says that India has been supporting Balochistan’s independence as a way to put pressure on Pakistan. “This is definitely political. It’s basically an open secret that the Indians have been helping the Baloch,” he said. “If [Ankit Srivastava] is doing this type of thing, that’s what you’d call a siren alert,” that he’s in line with the government’s policies.
Islamophobia
Source: https://bridge.georgetown.edu/research/factsheet-tarek-fatah/
Tarek Fatah is a Canadian writer who has consistently denied the existence of Islamophobia in Canada, opposes the niqab and has called for a ban on the burqa, and is a prominent opponent of Motion 103, which called on the Canadian government to condemn Islamophobia.
Tarek Fatah is a self-identified liberal Muslim who was born in Pakistan. In a 2017 article, he described Pakistan as a “genocidal (Islamic) state” he fled from to live in Canada.
Fatah has a weekly column in the Toronto Sun where he writes about various topics. Some of his articles include: “Don’t use divisive term ‘Islamophobia,’ expert tells MPs”; “As MPs look for Islamophobia, mosques continue promoting intolerance”; and “Mosque sermon calls on Allah to slay non-Muslims ‘one by one’.”
Fatah dismisses the term Islamophobia, and consequently, he opposes Motion 103, which calls on the Canadian government to condemn Islamophobia and recognize the need to “quell the public climate of fear and hate.”
On September 20, 2017, Fatah addressed the Parliamentary Committee on Canadian Heritage, on Islamophobia in Canada where he claimed that Muslims “mock Christians and Jews daily. When we read the opening words of the Quran that is the Surah Al-Fatiha five times a day, a minimum of 20 times a day, anyone who prays is mocking Christians and Jews.”
In response to a March 2018 incident when anti-Muslim activist Sandra Solomon ripped pages of the Qur’an, Fatah claimed that her actions were “derisive, uncouth, ill-mannered, uncivil and most certainly undeserving of the cross she proudly wears as a symbol of her faith in Jesus.” In the article, Fatah was concerned that Solomon’s actions gave fuel to those who say that Islamophobia does exist in Canada.
In response to the Quebec mosque shooting, Fatah falsely claimed the gunman, Alexandre Bissonette, “was not alone. His Muslim accomplice has been made state-witness to avoid talk of Muslim on Muslim terror.”
In an August 2018 tweet, Fatah likened multiculturalism to a drug, stating, “Once a politician gets addicted to its high, they are done forever; prisoners of overseas agendas that are hostile to Canada.”
Fatah has been a vocal opponent to the veil and niqab since the mid-2000s. In 2006, he said that “wearing veils — whether as an expression of religious identity, or as a means of political defiance — is not in the best interest of Canada’s Muslim communities.” In 2009, Fatah criticized a Muslim woman’s refusal to take off her niqab to testify in court.
In 2013, Fatah wrote an article in the Toronto Sun titled, “West should ban niqab,” which stated, “It’s time to take the veil off the lies Islamists tell and to ban the niqab and burka from all public places.”
In 2010, Fatah supported Bill 94, which denied public service in Quebec to anyone with a face covering. Fatah regularly mocks women who wear the niqab or burqa on his social media and in June 2018, after Doug Ford was elected Ontario’s premier, Fatah called on Ford to ban the burqa forever.
Fatah has repeatedly claimed that the hijab is a “political flag of the Islamofascist Muslim Brotherhood.” In September 2014 Fatah tweeted that if a woman “is against ISIS, then she’d take it [the hijab] off.”
Fatah regularly accuses prominent North American Muslim organizations and politicians of being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. In January 2019, Fatah accused U.S. congresswoman Ilhan Omar of being a “fifth columnist,” and described the hijab she wore as a “Muslim Brotherhood flag.” In June 2018, he accused the largest Muslim civil rights advocacy group, the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), of being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In 2012, Fatah supported the right-wing conspiracy theory promoted by then-U.S. congresswoman Michelle Bachman, that accused Hillary Clinton aide, Huma Abdin, of being a Muslim Brotherhood supporter. This theory was created by “misinformation expert” Frank Gaffney. In a 2012 piece, Fatah accused Abedin of “have[ing] affiliations with organizations linked to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood,” which Fatah likened to “a political aide of Henry Kissinger being the daughter of two members of the Soviet communist party politburo.”
Fatah supports U.S. President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban and claims the ban is the fault of Muslims themselves as a “result of 15 years staying silent and hating US while lying that we don’t. Promoting Sharia, not Secularism.”
In 2010, Fatah and Raheel Raza, who sits on the advisory board of the Clarion Project, an organization that promotes anti-Muslim content, co-authored an article in the Ottawa Citizen criticizing the establishment of a Muslim community center in New York, erroneously dubbed the “Ground Zero Mosque.” The authors stated, “We Muslims know the idea behind the Ground Zero mosque is meant to be a deliberate provocation to thumb our noses at the infidel.”
After the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Fatah founded the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC), an organization that claims to “represent the Muslims in Canada who are not currently represented by another organization.”
According to news agency Reuters, those killed in the terrorist incident have been identified as 46-year-old Syed Afzaal, his 44-year-old wife Madiha Salman, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah Afzaal and Syed Afzaal’s 74-year-old mother, whose name is not yet confirmed. Their 9-year-old son Faez Afzaal is in the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Reacting to the news, Fatah tweeted, “Horrific. Muslim family targeted in fatal hit and run by a truck driver in London, Ontario. Police say, the runaway driver has been arrested and charged with murder. Three adults and a teen are dead while a child is injured.”
Known for demonising Muslims and Islam through fake news, Fatah came for severe criticism as netizens mocked his sentiments as being ‘crocodile tears.’ One Dr. Naveed Iqbal wrote,
“The murder of an innocent Muslim family in Ontario is a tragic outcome of Islamophobia and hatred fermenting over the years. This Tarek Fatah with his crocodile tears is one of those cheerleaders of anti-Muslim hatred in Canada.”
Twitter user Mo wrote,
“That is rich. Coming from you and the Toronto sun. You are complicit in this. RIH and GFY.” Another Twitter user commented, “You are complicit in this tragedy. You are the 1st one painting everyday hard working Muslims with the same brush as fringe radical Muslims. All your hate speech has a lot do it with it.”
Fatah, who had reportedly fled Pakistan to avoid being prosecuted, now resides in Canada and has frequently written for the Toronto Sun newspaper, which has also faced criticism for promoting Islamophobia in Canada by providing space to a known hatemonger such as Tarek Fatah.
Lies
2.1) In response to the Quebec mosque shooting, Fatah falsely claimed the gunman, Alexandre Bissonette, “was not alone. His Muslim accomplice has been made state-witness to avoid talk of Muslim on Muslim terror.”
2.2) In January 2019, Fatah accused U.S. congresswoman Ilhan Omar of being a “fifth columnist,” and described the hijab she wore as a “Muslim Brotherhood flag.” In June 2018, he accused the largest Muslim civil rights advocacy group, the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), of being linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.
Fatah has made a career pandering to the right wing, being that necessary tool – the man of Muslim background attacking other Muslims. In 2001 he was a founding member of the Muslim Canadian Council, created to support arguments for, “Western values” and attack the broader Islamic community. The MCC had a grand sounding name and a membership that could be counted on one person’s fingers and toes. But it served to make Fatah’s ranting seem more than the work of one very isolated individual.
Intellectual Humiliations
Viewpoint From Overseas has now done two shows to challenge Tarek Fatah on his oft-repeated anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim rhetoric. Please watch these two shows shared below:
1. Tarek Fatah Vs Cemendtaur on India, Pakistan, South Asia, Balochistan
2. Tarek Fatah vs Riaz Haq on India, Pakistan and Muslims
General Shamelessness
He is a classless, ungrateful man overstaying his welcome where he is hosted. He mocked the furniture and the taste of Mani Shanker Aiyer who hosted the slob in his house. One could argue about the work of a minister or his political inclination or motives, yet, it was extremely disgusting and shameful to see Fatah ridiculing or mocking the taste of his host. It reflects his character and the moral values he holds.
Here he is provoking Indian Muslims for no reason at an Urdu festival, a language he constantly criticizes:
Could someone as notorious as Tarek Fatah known for his hatemongering and brazen contempt for a particular community, have barged in a meeting organized to celebrate Hindi literature, without ulterior motives and without someone’s backing?
Seeing all his efforts going in vain to incite Muslims, the known Islamophobe yesterday, without doubt at the behest of his backers, made yet another attempt to disturb the peaceful Urdu Festival, Rekhta, going on in Delhi for the last four days.
As soon as he was sighted near the venue, attendees asked the organiZers to ask him to leave the place immediately. Hearing this the provocateur remarked, “I dare you to make me leave.”
According to eyewitnesses, in order to create a nasty and ugly scene, he even tried to attack an individual with his stick and called him, a “Jihadi” and “Aurangzeb ke kutte” (You the dog of Aurangzeb).
Here is an interview with students where Tarek Fatah the intellectual called the students “maderchode” and “behnchode”.
Skip to 4:30
Lies and Deceit
Tarek Fatah is an active Twitter troll with over 6 lakh followers. But on numerous occasions, the Pakistani-Canadian writer has been found using the micro-blogging platform to circulate misinformation along communal lines, particularly targeting Indian Muslims. Even more concerning is his refusal to take down false news after the truth is pointed. He has, in fact, been found taking extra efforts to ensure that his followers remain misled.
Earlier in January 2020, Fatah tweeted a video of Burqa-clad persons dancing to a Bollywood number. He questioned, “Could someone confirm if this video is from the #CAA_NRCProtests at #ShaheenBagh or nor?” There are enough hints in the video which suggest that it did not represent protests at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The group is dancing around a woman dressed as a bride. Quite ironically, Fatah had tweeted the same video three years ago…twice. When he was slammed for the same, he quietly took down his tweet from August 2017. However, missed his tweet from May 2017.
Tarek Fatah’s Twitter timeline is an exhibition of disinformation and in this article, we will look at numerous such instances.
1. Video of relief distribution to Delhi riot victims shared as Shaheen Bagh women getting paid
“This video speaks for itself,” wrote Fatah after anti-CAA protests sparked riots in Delhi.
While Fatah tried to paint Shaheen Bagh women as ‘paid’ protesters, this video depicted relief distribution for Delhi riot victims.
Despite Alt News Fact Check and numerous others, the tweet remains on Fatah’s timeline. In fact, it was used in a Delhi riots ‘fact-finding’ report submitted to the Home Ministry to build a case against CAA protests.
2. Tweeted morphed image to claim Madrasa teacher portraying Islam superior to Hinduism
In June 2018, Tarek Fatah tweeted a photograph claiming that it depicts a madrasa teacher coaching his students that Islam is superior to Hinduism. He later took down the tweet, however, not before it drew numerous retweets.
The image tweeted by Fatah was morphed. In the original photograph, published by several media organisations including ANI, the blackboard has words written in Sanskrit. The teacher was giving the students a lesson on the language. Incidentally, this piece of misinformation had been debunked by Alt News just days before Fatah’s tweet.
3. Old video from Rajasthan shared as Muslims chanting slogans of Islamic supremacy amid Delhi polls
On February 8, 2020, Tarek Fatah quote-tweeted a video of a group of men, a majority of them wearing skull-caps, and wrote, “In the #DelhiPolls2020, Muslim goons chant a provocative slogan against Hindus to boast Islamic supremacy.”
While the original tweet has been taken down, Fatah is yet to delete his tweet. The video was shot in December 2017 thus unrelated to the 2020 Delhi polls. Here, apart from chants of Allah-o-Akbar, slogans against Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and PM Modi were also raised.
You can read Alt News’s detailed fact-check here.
4. Video from Bijnor viral with false allegation that elderly Muslim vendor sprinkled urine on fruits
A video of an elderly Muslim fruit-seller was shared by Tarek Fatah with the claim that he was caught sprinkling his urine on the produce. This video was massively viral as COVID cases in the country rose.
The police informed that the video was being shared with false claims. The elderly man had taken water from a bottle on his cart to wash hands after urination. He later used the same bottle to sprinkle water on the fruits. Our detailed fact-check on the incident can be read here.
5. False claim that a girl was assaulted for not wearing Hijab
Fatah had claimed that a girl was hit on the head by a man who disapproved of her cycling without wearing a Hijab (archive).
Alt News found multiple Turkish reports which stated that the man had indeed assaulted the 9-year-old. However, none of the reports mentioned the absence of Hijab as the motive for the crime. The incident had gained much prominence in Turkey after the perpetrator was released from jail and referred to a mental health facility. Despite Fatah’s tweet debunked two years ago, he is yet to take it down.
6. Tweeted video of Islamic flags raised during Ramzan as Pakistani flags
Fatah tweeted a video where bike-borne men can be seen waving green coloured flags. The Pakistani-Canadian writer claimed that the flags were of Pakistan and were raised during Ramzan in Tamil Nadu (archive).
However, the flags were not of Pakistan but Islamic flags often used by the Muslim community in the sub-continent. Alt News’s detailed fact-check can be read here.
7. Video of men uprooting trees over land dispute in Pakistan shared with anti-Muslim angle
Tarek Fatah wrote in foul language that “jihads” uprooted saplings to practice “killing infidel kaafirs” in Pakistan.
In reality, a chaotic incident took place at the Mandi Kas area in Khyber Agency in Pakistan. Newly-planted trees were uprooted by locals over alleged “forceful plantation on private land”. The tree plantation drive was an initiative by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf member Iqbal Afridi as a part of Pakistan’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, a nationwide plantation drive.
8. Tweeted old video to claim Muslims celebrated Congress’s victory by waving Pak flags
The “Pak flags” theory has been propagated by Fatah several times. Last year, after Congress won the assembly polls in Rajasthan, he claimed that the victory was celebrated by Muslims in the state by raising Pakistani flags. Fatah later deleted the tweet but an archived version can be accessed here.
The flags in the video were actually representative of the ‘Indian Union Muslim League’ and not Pakistan. Alt News’s fact-check can be read here.
9. Unrelated video from 2017 shared amidst CAA protests with a communal spin
In the view of protests against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Fatah retweeted a video of a man sporting a skull cap pelting a stone at a bus.
The video, however, turned out to be from 2017 therefore unrelated to CAA which was passed by the Parliament in December 2019. Moreover, in the complete video, one can spot a group of people pelting bricks at the bus, whereas in the video retweeted by Fatah, the portion where a man donning a skull cap was throwing a brick was mischievously clipped.
10. Journalist Arfa Khanum’s speech on CAA shared with distorted interpretation by BJP office-bearers
“Leading Islamist in India @KhanumArfa caught on video advocating for a “change in strategy” by Muslims to push for Islamisation of Hindustan without compromising their Islamic ideology,” wrote Fatah.
A speech delivered by Arfa Khanum at Aligarh Muslim University was clipped and misrepresented on social media. Fatah claimed that the journalist was promoting the establishment of Islamic society and urging protesters to maintain a pretence of support to non-Muslims until such a society is created. However, Khanum was stating the complete opposite. She urged protesters to not use religious slogans to maintain the secular character of the movement.
Alt News’s complete fact-check on the video can be read here.
11. Image from 2016 shared as Muslim man hurling stones in recent spate of CAA protests
A photograph of several men pelting stones was shared on social media in the backdrop of protests against CAA and NRC. In the middle of the group is an elderly man wearing a skull cap hurling stone. Fatah tweeted the photograph with the message, “Meanwhile #, in India a ‘peaceful’ in action.”
A reverse search of the image on Google revealed that it is almost three years old. We found the same image posted on January 8, 2016. The user claimed that the image is from the Malda riots.
12. Shared clipped video of Rahul Gandhi to claim he said Gandhiji’s non-violence was inspired by Islam
Fatah’s misinformation cycle is not limited to targeting Muslims but extends to attacking Congress using similar methods. A video where Rahul Gandhi can be heard saying, “Mahatma Gandhi picked up the idea of non-violence from ancient Indian philosophy, from Islam”, was shared by Fatah last year. (archive).
The video, however, was clipped. The Congress President did not only mention Islam but other religions as well – “…Mahatma Gandhi picked up the idea of non-violence from ancient Indian philosophy, from Islam, from Christianity, from Judaism, from every great religion where it is clearly written that violence will not help anyone achieve anything.”
The relevant part of Rahul Gandhi’s speech can be seen in the video below starting at 23:37.
Read Alt News’s fact-check here.
13. Video of 2012 Mardan Church attack in Pakistan shared as recent
“Muslim mob attacks a church and school, setting the building on fire and destroying church proper right under the nose of the police,” tweeted Fatah in April 2020.
The video carries text that says, “Mob are ready to attack on Mardan Church, Pakistan.” The same clip was also shared in 2017 which means that the incident is certainly not recent. A simple Google search with the keyword ‘Mardan church attack’ leads one to media reports from September 2012.
Read Alt News Fact Check.
14. Video of child abuse in J&K, India, shared as Pakistan
A video of a woman holding a girl by her hair and beating up the child with what seems like a slipper was tweeted by Tarek Fatah in November 2019 with the claim that the incident took place in Pakistan and that such kind of “severe beating” is normal among Punjabi families.
Alt News found that the video is from Nagri area of Kathua district, Jammu & Kashmir in India and not Pakistan.
15. Trolled Priyanka Gandhi for an error she did not make
“Dear @PriyankaGandhi, ‘Nauroz’ was celebrated last month. The Kashmiri new year’s day being celebrated today is ‘Navreh’,” tweeted Tarek Fatah on April 6, 2019, trolling Priyanka Gandhi for her Kashmiri new year greeting (archive).
Alt News found that Nauroz was a perfectly acceptable form of greeting for Kashmiri new year, used by Kashmiris themselves. Our detailed fact-check can be read here.
16. Old video of SP leader Mavia Ali shared as Congress leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui
Fatah tweeted a video alleging that Congress leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui said, “Loyalty is for dogs. We Muslims own India; our loyalty is to Islam.”
The video dates back to August 2017. It features Samajwadi Party leader Mavia Ali who had kicked up a storm while reacting to Uttar Pradesh government’s controversial circular asking madrasas across the state to celebrate Independence Day and record a video of the event.
17. Shared old images to claim Saudi officials bulldozed bodies in 2015 Mecca stampede
A tweet that gained 2,400 retweets still adorns Fatah’s timeline despite debunked by international media (archive).
His claim that Saudi officials bulldozed dead bodies of Hajj pilgrims was made using decade-old photographs.
The misinformation was debunked by France24.
18. Tweeted fake news claiming 2,000 Rohingya Muslims join ISIS with plans to attack Nagaland
On October 13, 2017, Tarek Fatah made the aforestated claim via a tweet (archive).
His tweet was inspired by a story published by ANI on October 12, 2017.
Local publication Morung Express had raised a flag about ANI falling for fake news. It reported that the so-called news was circulating widely on Facebook and WhatsApp groups before ANI reported it. Alt News found messages dating back to October 10, 2017, on Facebook which claimed that Rohingyas were going to attack Nagaland. Renchamo P Kikon, IGP of the Intelligence Department of Nagaland Police, termed the news false. A detailed fact-check published by Alt News at the time is available here.
ANI subsequently took down its story and the organisation’s news editor Smita Prakash issued a statement.
While the misinformation cannot be pinned on Fatah since the news was published by ANI, his failure to take down the tweet despite ANI’s clarification shows a lack of concern.
19. Tweeted fake news linking IS-Al Qaeda to annual functions in Kerala college
This piece of disinformation was published by Kerala media outlet Janam TV. The organisation later deleted its YouTube broadcast but a written report is still available on its website.
Alt News found that the flags show by Janam TV were not Al-Queda’s. The media outlet painted a nine-month-old video of an annual day celebration, where students dressed in black, as support to Al Qaeda and Islamic State by the students. Alt News’s investigative report can be accessed here. While the fake news was propagated by Janam TV, Fatah’s failure to take down his tweet (archive) despite fact-checks points to a lack of interest to curb misinformation.
20. False claim that female drivers in Saudi Arabia fought on the road on the first day of being permitted to drive
In a historic move promoting women’s rights, Saudi Arabia lifted the decades-old ban on female drives in 2018. However, in a tweet marred with sexism, Fatah claimed that Saudi women began a “road rage” on the first day they were allowed to drive (archive).
The video tweeted by Fatah was not shot in 2018 but has been on the internet at least since 2015 when women could not drive on Saudi roads. Therefore, it cannot be representative of a fight that took place on the first day after the driving ban on women was lifted on June 24, 2018. SM Hoaxslayer had debunked the video.
21. Tweeted movie clip as Pakistani mother denying polio vaccination to her children
Tarek Fatah tweeted a video with the claim that it shows a Pakistani mother denying polio workers from vaccinating her children. “Pakistani mother slams the door shut in the face of Polio workers. Screams at the two female volunteers,” read his tweet.
The video tweeted by Tarek Fatah is part of a 2018 movie Pakistani film ‘Load Wedding’. The same clip was uploaded on August 2, 2018, on YouTube. One can also spot cameras and the production team in the video.
22. Called former Pakistani cricketer Inzaman ul-Haq “mulla”
On June 16, India played against Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup. A day before the match, Fatah tweeted that the Pakistani captain had to bring “a Mullah to bless the pitch for tomorrow’s match against India.” His tweet was liked over 10,000 times and received more 3,000 times.
The man in the picture was actually former Pakistani cricket captain Inzamam ul-Haq. Despite being called out by numerous people, Fatah neither took down his tweet nor did he post a clarification. He instead made a meme out of the photograph.
23. Retweeted photo posted with the claim that it shows US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a training camp of a Somali warlord
Columnist Harbir Singh quote-tweeted a tweet which shared a photograph of a turbaned woman holding an automatic weapon. The original tweet claimed that the image showed US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at an Al-Qaeda training camp in Somalia. This was retweeted by Fatah.
This photograph does not show Omar but a woman recruit of the Somali Army at a military training campus at Halane, Mogadishu. The image is available in the archives of Associated Press, according to which it was shot on February 25, 1978. Omar wasn’t born until four years later in 1982.
24. Old video of Kuwait protest shared as deadly explosion in Halal Disco in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Tarek Fatah shared a video on Twitter claiming that it depicts explosions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s Halal nightclub. “Explosion last night at the Halal Disco in Jeddah Saudi Arabia. Many deaths and many injuries feared. Total ban on media coverage,” read his tweet (archive).
Alt News found that the video was uploaded by an Arabic media outlet Alziadiq8 on July 6, 2014, which described it as protests in Kuwait. A report by Al Jazeera said that on July 6 more than 2,000 people marched from Kuwait City’s Grand Mosque after evening Ramzan prayers and into the old market to protest the arrest of opposition leader, Musallam al-Barrak. The protesters also demanded the expulsion of corrupt judges. The police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
25. Chinese dance video edited and passed off as Indian performance on Hindu devotional song
Tarek Fatah tweeted a dance video with the words, “The Magic that is Hindustan.” The video has a Hindu devotional song with chants of Lord Ram playing in the background.
Fatah’s tweet was misleading as the dance form has been created by Zhang Jigang, an internationally acclaimed choreographer and an officer in the Chinese national army (PLA). Interestingly, the dance is performed by hearing-impaired artists.
Tarek Fatah is a vocal critic of Islam, however, often blurring the lines between rational scepticism and contempt toward the Muslim community. As laid out in this report, he continually misrepresents events to throw a poor light on Muslims across the world, especially Indian Muslims. He frequently resorts to misinformation that is sectarian in nature to get his point across. Moreover, Fatah’s failure to clarify or takedown tweets that have been fact-checked as false or misleading suggests that he has very little regard for the truth. It is also important to point out here that Fatah has been able to weaponise misinformation because Twitter as a platform has failed to control sectarian misinformation adversely affecting democracies across the globe.
More evidene is available about this shameless, stateless man here: https://k4catalyst.wordpress.com/
Here is an article from a respectable Indian Journalist:
Source: https://www.newslaundry.com/2021/10/05/know-your-tv-news-panelists-the-general-and-the-generalisation
There are many flavours and varieties of hate that parade through our idiot boxes every night. A true connoisseur of hate is Tarek Fatah, who has practised many variants over his long TV career and seems to have settled for a base variety for now. From logical fallacies to outright venom, he’s got it all.
Fatah is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist and TV commentator who claims to be a “progressive” spokesperson for the Muslim community. Except that it is a positioning he has thoroughly (mis)used.
Fatah left Pakistan in 1978, spent 10-odd years in Saudi Arabia as an advertising executive before arriving in Canada as an immigrant. He dabbled a bit in politics before his first stint on TV in the 1990s, hosting CTS Television’s Muslim Chronicle, a show focusing on issues related to the Muslim community in Canada.
Once 9/11 cast a shadow of gloom in the West, Fatah cemented his self-proclaimed position as a “representative” of the community, rallying against the threat of “Islamist agendas”. Since then, whether as “champion” of secularism or a fearmonger, Fatah developed a certain popularity as a provocateur, featuring in many radio and TV programmes like Friendly Fire with Ryan Doyle or the Agenda with Steve Paikan. He currently has a column in the Toronto Sun.
Fatah’s real talent, however, was truly discovered by Indian television, of course, which gave him a chance to explore going full wack. Now, even a small sampling of his Twitter account is enough to establish his credentials as a fake news peddler.
As a “vocal critic” of Pakistan who used his “progressive” façade to denigrate an entire community, Fatah was irresistible for Indian TV. Zee News gave him an entire show of his own in 2017, called Fatah Ka Fatwa, which ran on gross prejudice. The show’s off the air now but Fatah still hosts a similar YouTube show for New Delhi Times called What The Fatah.
Given that the Taliban was the topic of last month, here’s Fatah on Republic commenting on the despicability of the people of Pakistan who are ‘loyal to none’ except their own self-serving agenda. Don’t miss the irony that Fatah, a Pakistani-Canadian, is on television to present the “India view”.
On Times Now, he warned Navika Kumar of the dire consequences of the Taliban – not in Afghanistan, but in India. Muslims are “mentally deranged people”, he lamented, who, thanks to a genetic disorder, have “bloodshed as part of their ethos”. He accused the Indian Muslim community of “hating Hindus” and “raping children”. Navika was forced to weakly interject with a “well, I don’t know if all of them do”. Wow.
Fatah was then spotted on Zee News, ruminating on why the “Taliban in Hindustan” – which he described as a “virus emanating from Deoband” – hasn’t already left our shores for Pakistan or Afghanistan.
Fatah’s filterless hate is a god-send for news anchors, who would otherwise have to tiptoe around dog-whistling. His role is to “expose” the Muslim community as an “insider” – he was purportedly persecuted as a journalist in Pakistan 40 years ago – and he holds the Mughals fully responsible for everything.
Of course, hating on Mughals implies he shares a special bandhan with Godi media. From Lodhi Garden and Qutub Minar to Mughal-e-Azam, here’s Fatah Saab on Aaj Tak shaking his fist at the “plunderer Mughals” whose naamo-nishaan he wants erased from the subcontinent.
It doesn’t matter that Fatah lives in Canada, is originally from Pakistan, and has no lived experience in India whatsoever. As long as you’re an avid practitioner of communal disinformation with a penchant for conspiracy theories, you’ve got a ticket to an Indian news panel. Some of these channels will even honour you by calling you an “Islamic scholar” if you promise to spit lies against the Tablighi Jamaat.
Here on News Nation, his role was to explain why the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, in India, were actually a Pakistani conspiracy.
Or almost justifying the Babri Masjid demolition by questioning the legitimacy of the “gunda” who built it.
Like a master troll rising from the dungeons of an IT cell, Tarek Fatah remains an Indian TV news favourite. No surprises there.