Tarekh Fateh: Why Pakistan hates him?

Canadian author of Pakistani origin Tarekh Fateh is someone who minces no words when it comes to Pakistan bashing. He is one those Pakistani origin intellectuals who are biggest critics of the nation. Fateh's opinions have been widely criticised in the neighbouring country. In fact he had to leave the country and seek refuge in Canada for his outspokenness, questioning the very existence of the Islamic republic.

From the partition, the creation of Pakistan, the two-nation theory, to the current leadership and politics in the Islamic Republic, he opposes everything. Being a staunch critic of partition, he has said in multiple forums that it should not have happened and blames the elite few, including Jinnah, for advocating the two nation theory.

He says that partition did not benefit the common Muslims of the sub-continent but was instead a conspiracy hatched by few rich elite Punjabis to create a new state where they could dominate and exploit.

He calls himself an Indian born in Pakistan. He is, by some, also seen as someone trying hard to please India and be in the lime light in the Indian media.

To understand the significance of his hard hitting opinions, one needs to keep in mind the complexity of India Pakistan relationships and the decades long hostility between the two countries due to a number of historical and political events.

Just after India's Surgical Strikes last year in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), Fateh, in a TV program, said that India attacked its own territory, in way endorsing that whole of Kashmir belongs to India.

"India did not attack a part of Pakistan, India attacked region which belonged to India but occupied by Pakistan. It belongs to India," he said in Aap Ki Adalat program hosted by well known journalist Rajat Sharma.

He then went back into history and said it was unfortunate that "some" call "alcohol consuming" Mohhamed Ali Jinnah as "Quaid-e-Azam".

"The nation (Pakistan) was formed out of lies with hatred as one its foundations... Pakistan is an acronym it is not a nation," he said.

"Most of the wealth in Pakistan is in Punjab. They (the elite ruling class) want to hold on to power and they know that Pakistan is breaking into pieces," he added.

Taking a jibe at the regime in Pakistan, he has said the Prime Minister there would even be willing to do "sit-ups" before the army chief to retain his post. He has vehemently criticised the way Pakistan army was run, the lifestyle of its officers and the way it exercised its power on the civilian government.

He also ridiculed former defence minister Khawaja Asif, saying the latter did not know what a "tactical Nuclear weapon was".

When asked about cricketer turned politician Imran Khan, he said, "In his entire life he has been trying to impress women. He gets more attention (from women) in India than in Pakistan."

"He is one of those Punjabis who pretend to be a Pashto. There is Dilli-wala Musharraff who is trying to pretend as if he is a Punjabi. Punjabis want to upgrade themselves and want to be seen a Pashtos. This is all nonsense. There is identity crisis (in Pakistan). Musharraff even tries to speak in a Punjabi accent. All of them are liars," he said.

On Pakistan harbouring those preaching extremist violence, Fateh said, "Hafiz Saeed is the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Syed Salahuddin is the defence minister."

"These people (the regime) are so cruel that they can kill lakhs of Bengali Muslims".

He also spewed venom at Pakistani establishment for committing atrocities in Balochistan. He spoke on myriad issues, putting forth his bold views on several sensitive matters between the two countries.

Can it be concurred from views expressed by Fateh that he represents a section of intellects in Pakistan who are now giving a serious thought on whether there was some major flaw in the ideology behind the creation of Pakistan and the way it is being run?

He has also time and again rated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership highly and hailed India's focus on development. Is he the one, as alleged by some, trying to please the Indian establishment.

His views are appreciated by many India while he also draws a fair share of flak. One can either loved him hate him, but it is hard to ignore what Fateh says.

OneIndia News