This is a powerful short talk on his experiences of being a Muslim watching the recent developments in the Middle East unfold. Riveting and persuasive. Enjoy! Who is the man:
Hello and Salaam Alaykum,
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 in pain, a living witness to how dreams of hope and enlightenment can be turned into a nightmare of despair and failure. Promises made to the children of my generation that were never meant to be kept. Today, the result is a Muslim society lost in the sands of Sinai with no Moses to lead us out, held hostage by hateful pretenders of piety.
Our problems are further compounded by a collective denial of the fact that the pain we suffer is caused mostly by self-inflicted wounds, and is not entirely the result of some Zionist conspiracy hatched with the West. 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.
I am a secular Muslim who was born in Pakistan in 1949. My parents moved to that young country from Bombay, India very soon after the sub-continent was partitioned by the departing British as parting gift.
Since the 1960s as I have worked against the forces of Islamofascism, best reflected in the agenda and ideologies of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab World and the Jamaat-e-Islami in Indo-Pakistan subcontinent.
My case against Islamism has been made in the book Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State (Wiley 2008) where I suggest that instead of pursuing the goal of an illusive ‘Islamic State’, Muslims should try to attain a ‘State of Islam.’
My second book The Jew Is Not My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths that Fuel Muslim Anti-Semitism will be published by McClelland & Stewart in October 2010.
Karachi, the city where I was born and lived for 29 years, is also the place where I met my wife Nargis Tapal in 1970. We are happily married for nearly 35 years and have two daughters, Natasha and Nazia.
Now about the black and white picture at the top of this page. Yes, you guessed it right. That is me in the middle, flanked by my two older sisters, Fauzia (on left who lives in Amsterdam) and Farida (on right and lives in Karachi). Behind us are Mum and Dad, who have both passed away. I have a younger brother Mahmood who is not in this picture as he was not born yet.
The black & white snap was taken in 1952 on the beach of Manora Island, a naval base just off the coast of Karachi and site of the RIN (Royal Indian Mutiny) rebellion in 1946.
The other picture was taken at an event celebrating our family’s ten years in Canada in 1997. I am flanked by my daughters Natasha (right) and Nazia (second from left) with my friend and life partner Nargis Tapal (on far left).
Natasha Fatah is a producer at CBC Radio’s flagship cross-country program As It Happens, and writes a regular column Minority Report for CBC.ca
If you care to befriend me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter, simply click the appropriate icons on the right and join me in my journey. And if you still care to read more about me, you may want to visit this Wikipedia page.
Cheers and Khuda Hafiz
Tarek Fatah: Visit his web site at http://www.averroespress.com/AverroesPress/Main/Main.html
