Tarek Fatah is a known peddler of fake news and has had to face unending humiliation for his desperate attempts to defame Islam using doctored or fake videos and images. Once a poster boy of the RSS, he was exposed by Janta Ka Reporter’s editor-in-chief, Rifat Jawaid, during a show in ABP News in 2015. The RSS had promoted him in India to confuse Indian Muslims since Fatah carried a Muslim name. It was this encounter by Rifat Jawaid that put paid to his efforts to build India as a fertile territory to push his agenda of hate.
It was only after this famous TV encounter that Fatah began to withdraw himself since his true colours were out before the public. The hatemonger has, however, not refrained from peddling lies or propagating hate using his verified Twitter account.
On 30 May, he posted a group photo of cricket captains from 10 countries taking part in this year’s World Cup, currently being played in England and Wales. In the photo, ten captains were seen posing with the British Queen. An otherwise sweet photo became a tool to push hate and bigotry. Only a person with a crooked mind such as Fatah could pull off this feat with extreme aplomb. And he did only to be left humiliated.
Fatah posted the photo alright, but to shame Pakistani cricket team’s captain Sarfaraz Ahmed because of his decision to visit the Queen wearing his country’s national attire, kurta and pyjama with the national team’s blazer.
An upset Fatah wrote sarcastically, “Captains of #Cricket playing nations competing 4 the #CricketWorldCup had a photoshoot with the Queen. Guess who came dressed in his pyjamas? None other than the #Pakistan captain (back row, left). Take a look at him in the other pic. How does one country produce …? #CricketWC”
No sooner did this Pakistani origin, Canadian hatemonger post his tweet, he began to face condemnation from Indians, putting paid to his attempts to cause a religious divide through this photo. One user Nirav Modi (parody account) on Twitter wrote, “Well Tarek you are disgrace and Top level Bigot, Mahtama Gandhi met the king in London in Dhoti and Our Prime Minister AB Bajpayee gave speech in Hindi in UN. And we are proud of Gandhi and Atal ji. Let them do what Pak wants to do.
Another user Prachi agreed when she wrote, “Absolutely with you. Sarfaraz is the bravest in that pack of boys. In one stroke he makes so many statements. Win or lose #SarfarazAhmed this act certainly wins our heart. Love from India.”
User Abhishek Jha wrote, “Well said sir.”
Another user Mohita wrote, “It’s really sad that even in such a competitive world, we are judging based on clothes. Let me remind you sir, we Indians too have almost same culture and it’s good if @SarfarazA_54 wants to promote his culture. Also, GROW UP.”
One wonders if the reaction to Fatah’s latest attempt to propagate hate will shut him up for a long time. Given his notoriety, it looks highly unlikely.