Ottawa: Pakistani-Canadian columnist Tarek Fatah passed away on Monday after a prolonged battle with cancer, his daughter Natasha Fatah, who herself is a journalist, announced in a tweet. He was 73.
“Lion of Punjab. Son of Hindustan. Lover of Canada. Speaker of truth. Fighter for justice. Voice of the downtrodden, underdogs, and the oppressed. Tarek Fatah has passed the baton on. . . his revolution will continue with all who knew and loved him. Will you join us? 1949-2023,” Natasha said in a post on Twitter.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan before emigrating to Canada in 1987, Fatah was an award-winning reporter, columnist, and radio and television commentator, both in Canada and abroad, with a huge social media following, according to Toronto Sun.
Fatah was a political activist, a fierce defender of human rights and a staunch opponent of religious fanaticism in any form. As a secular Muslim who authored books titled “The Jew is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism” and “Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State”, Tarek was never deterred by controversy. On the contrary, he would dive right in.
