By Sadiya Rohma Khan for TwoCircles.net
As an Indian youth, I humbly write to express my concern over a recently aired show on Zee TV – FATAH KA FATWA wherein a certain Mr. Tarek Fatah, is the anchor, who has been recently gaining or gaming too much lens attention which we as Indians fail to understand. The fact that Tarek Fatah, is a Pakistani or not or whichever confused origin he has as he says, speaks jargoned English, salt & pepper hair do with a background of being a Canadian writer, and now choses to preach Islam his way, in India without respecting the Indian culture and traditions and that too two almost similar homophones….FATAH KA FATWA, where we all know the word FATWA has a religious connotation.
My point of concern is, why would we Indians need a Pakistani origin with a confused identity to debate on our Indian open forums with mud sling discussions on Indian Muslims and creating internal rifts which may be hazardous or which can open or may likely pave discontent in the Indian society.
He was once invited as a guest on AAP KI ADALAT, where our respected media personality, asked him a simple anchoring question, would you like an Indian citizenship, if you get? He replied in humour “I sing better than Adnan Sami,” referrring to the famous singer who has received Indian citizenship.
This completely supports my point, he is yet not an Indian citizen and has been allowed to be an anchor for a debate show whose title is sensitive to India`s majority in minority` and may have very wavering effects within which may really be a discomfort,to our existing harmonious vibrant secular India.
We as Indians have enough intellectual capability that we can discuss and internally, sort out our own subject of concern or interest or disinterest. Why should we get a foreign anchor with confused identity? This is first part of expression.
The second part is, BURQA has always been debated and discussed openly even years before on other leading channels by many leading Indian media personalities in a very democratic and disciplined way, where no mockery of the participants or belief was done. If you may listen to the entire first episode, it more or so stresses to have a one sided view which is forcibly titled as FATAH’s FATWA, and creates more of a bully pulpit.
Never has our Indian media ever aired such an extreme chat show with an unknown person and that too a confused identity of Pakistani origin who is ashamed of his own heritage.
Will Indian TV channels now tell Muslims what is Islam and how they are expected to practice their faith?
I humbly request, to kindly create an awareness, that this show may be anchored by an Indian leading journalist or Indian anchor who knows how to regulate the words, respect the preamble and also adhere to the culture and secular thoughts of my great Nation- India