Views Of Tarek Fatah About India And Pakistan

• Tarek Fatah is staunch critic of Pakistan
• Tarek Fatah supporter of Narendra Modi for his views and policies
• Tarek Fatah is famous for his views that verge of the extreme

Tarek Fatah, a Canadian writer, broadcaster, secularist and liberal activist, introduces himself in his own way:

"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."

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Fatah, born in 1949 in Karachi to a Punjabi family, was a leftist student leader in the 1960s and 1970s. He entered journalism as a reporter for the Karachi Sun in 1970. Imprisoned twice by military regimes, in 1977 he was charged with sedition by the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq and was barred from journalism in Pakistan. Afterwards, he left Pakistan to settle in Saudi Arabia. He emigrated to Canada in 1987.

He is known for his views that verge on the extreme, and his childlike giggle. Though at times he contradicts himself, he has the sincerity you can't ignore, even if it is outright controversial.

Views on Pakistan

Tarek Fatah is a staunch critic of Pakistan. According to him, Pakistan is not a country but an abstract idea, which was formed on the base of lies and its foundation is hate. He believes Mohammad Ali Jinnah was a drunkard and a pig-eater. His speeches and works are banned in Pakistan.

"Pakistan is not a nation, it's just a state of mind. There are no such people as 'Pak' like we have Afghans in Afghanistan, Kazakhs in Kazakhstan and Balochs in Balochistan. Where are the Pak people?" he said in IANS interview.

"India is a republic rooted in 5,000 years of Indus Valley civilisation, the other (Pakistan) is a concoction of hatred. Pakistan is merely a military enterprise for the jihadis," he added.

Fatah went on to say that all the proponents of Pakistan were "Hindu hate mongers", including the celebrated Urdu poet Allama Iqbal.

Views on India

He believes India is the only country offering a future in terms of what the nation-state would be and how to accommodate languages, races and religions with all the difficulties that go with that. "As a Muslim, I found it fascinating that this is the only place in the world where Muslims exert influence without fear. Muslims are better equipped in India than in Pakistan and Bangladesh," he said in an interview with Times of India.

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Tarek Fatah is a supporter of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. He is famous in India for his controversial statements. He believes Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) is Indian territory.

In the context of religion he said:

"I write as a Muslim whose ancestors were Hindu. My religion, Islam, is rooted in Judaism, while my Punjabi culture is tied to that of the Sikhs. Yet I am told by Islamists that without shedding this multifaceted heritage, if not outrightly rejecting it, I cannot be considered a true Muslim."