Osman Faruqi

Faruqi was born in Pakistan and came to Australia at the age of two.{{cite web |last1=Ansari |first1=Tahmina |title=This Muslim journalist embraced social media until it 'ruined' his life |url=https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/this-muslim-journalist-embraced-social-media-until-it-ruined-his-life/ |website=First Draft News |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025081159/https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/this-muslim-journalist-embraced-social-media-until-it-ruined-his-life/ |archive-date=25 October 2020 |language=English |date=1 July 2019}} He is the son of the Australian Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.{{cite web |last1=McCauley |first1=Dana |title=Ex-Greens candidate Osman Faruqi hired by ABC |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/exgreens-candidate-osman-faruqi-hired-by-abc/news-story/2e2336a336b6d06c1b34df1d0005482a |website=The Australian |access-date=21 December 2020 |language=English |date=2 May 2018}} As a student at the University of New South Wales Faruqi served as the president of the Student Representative Council in 2010.{{cite web |last1=Aston |first1=Heath |title=Exposed: Sydney's great rental rip-off |url=https://www.theage.com.au/technology/exposed-sydneys-great-rental-ripoff-20100410-rzsf.html |website=The Age |access-date=7 January 2021 |date=11 April 2010 |archive-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106134401/https://www.theage.com.au/technology/exposed-sydneys-great-rental-ripoff-20100410-rzsf.html |url-status=live }} In the 2015 New South Wales state election, Faruqi stood as the Australian Greens candidate for the seat of Heffron, receiving 21.1% of the first-preference vote.{{cite web |title=Electorate: Heffron |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/nsw-election-2015/guide/heff/ |website=ABC News |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522200125/https://www.abc.net.au/news/nsw-election-2015/guide/heff/ |archive-date=22 May 2019 |language=English |date=14 April 2015}} Faruqi is a Muslim and has commented on the difficulty of facing prejudice as a Muslim in Australia in the wake of the September 11 attacks.{{cite web |last1=Jamieson |first1=Maya |last2=Alikhil |first2=Abdullah |title=Social-cohesion report shows many Muslims feel left out |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/social-cohesion-report-shows-many-muslims-feel-left-out |website=SBS News |access-date=6 January 2021 |date=31 August 2016 |archive-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106125744/https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/social-cohesion-report-shows-many-muslims-feel-left-out |url-status=live }}

In addition to his work as a journalist, Faruqi has also worked as a higher education policy adviser for the Australian Greens{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Focus on quantity unfair to students |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/focus-on-quantity-unfair-to-students/news-story/9c32c89aa91d8c5f79e2c2a16aa733ab |website=The Australian |access-date=7 January 2021 |date=3 February 2016}} in the office of NSW Senator Lee Rhiannon.{{cite web |title=Tips and rumours: are there ructions in the NSW greens? |url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2015/09/16/tips-and-rumpours-are-there-ructions-in-the-nsw-greens/ |website=Crikey |access-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927165715/https://www.crikey.com.au/2015/09/16/tips-and-rumpours-are-there-ructions-in-the-nsw-greens/ |archive-date=27 September 2020 |date=16 September 2015}} After nearly ten years as an active member of the Greens, Faruqi stepped down from his roles in the party in 2015.

He chairs an awards panel for the State Library of New South Wales.{{cite web |title=Multicultural NSW Award:2021 |url=https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/multicultural-nsw-award |website=State Library of New South Wales |access-date=20 January 2021 |date=2021 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120024906/https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/awards/multicultural-nsw-award |url-status=live }}

{{as of|2020}} Faruqi was writing a book about race relations in Australia, which was expected to be published in 2021.{{cite web |title=Osman Faruqi |url=https://www.swf.org.au/writers/osman-faruqi/ |website=Sydney Writers Festival |access-date=21 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930194748/https://www.swf.org.au/writers/osman-faruqi/ |archive-date=30 September 2020 |language=English}}

Faruqi frequently writes on issues related to Australian politics, culture, and identity. He frequently writes on matters related to racial, ethnic and cultural identity in Australia, including the government's approach to Black Lives Matter,{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Deflecting from the real issues of Black Lives Matter |url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2020/06/20/deflecting-the-real-issues-black-lives-matter/159257520010007#hrd |website=The Saturday Paper |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109182537/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2020/06/20/deflecting-the-real-issues-black-lives-matter/159257520010007#hrd |archive-date=9 January 2021 |date=20-26 June 2020}} anti-Muslim sentiment in Australia,{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Australia's First Muslim Cricketer Is Shining A Light On Racism In The Sport |url=https://junkee.com/usman-khawaja-racism-cricket/126929 |website=Junkee |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109075817/https://junkee.com/usman-khawaja-racism-cricket/126929 |archive-date=9 January 2021 |date=10 October 2017}} and the threat of far-right terrorism in Australia.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Exclusive: ASIO's 'race war' warning |url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/03/11/exclusive-asios-race-war-warning/15838668009510#hrd |website=The Saturday Paper |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116001705/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2020/03/11/exclusive-asios-race-war-warning/15838668009510 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |date=11 March 2020}}

Faruqi has written critically about the response to COVID-19 in Victoria.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=When the public side with the powerful over press freedom, we all lose |url=https://www.theage.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/when-the-public-side-with-the-powerful-over-press-freedom-we-all-lose-20201025-p568bw.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true |website=The Age |access-date=20 January 2021 |date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120021307/https://www.theage.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/when-the-public-side-with-the-powerful-over-press-freedom-we-all-lose-20201025-p568bw.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true |url-status=live }} He has criticised the application of compliance fines for breaches of COVID-19 regulations, arguing that these have been disproportionately targeted at migrant and Indigenous Australians.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Compliance fines under the microscope |url=https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2020/04/18/compliance-fines-under-the-microscope/15871320009710#hrd |website=The Saturday Paper |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120021350/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2020/04/18/compliance-fines-under-the-microscope/15871320009710 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |date=18-24 April 2020}}

Faruqi has been highly critical of what he calls "racist fear mongering" in Australian media coverage of the purported "African gangs" issue in Melbourne.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=The Recent Obsession With "African Gangs" Betrays A Sad Reality About Australian Politics |url=https://junkee.com/african-gangs-australian-politics/141206 |website=Junkee |access-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109042617/https://junkee.com/african-gangs-australian-politics/141206 |archive-date=9 November 2020 |date=3 January 2018}} Faruqi has noted that senior police officials in Victoria have expressed skepticism about the claim of a widespread crisis related to crime committed by African Australians in Melbourne.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Victoria's Top Cop Has Ripped Into Peter Dutton's Comments Over "African Gangs" |url=https://junkee.com/police-commissioner-african-gangs/141999 |website=Junkee |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107235517/https://junkee.com/police-commissioner-african-gangs/141999 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |date=10 January 2018}}

In an extended essay for Meanjin in 2016, Faruqi was highly critical of what he perceived as inadequate ethnic diversity in Australian media.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Media and diversity in Australia |url=https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.173508672581955 |website=Meanjin |access-date=20 January 2021 |date=1 June 2016 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120021821/https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.173508672581955 |url-status=live }} In 2018, Faruqi publicly criticised his fellow ABC journalist Sarah Ferguson for interviewing far-right figure and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, contending that she failed to properly interrogate Bannon's extreme views on race, and had "thrown me and other PoC (people of colour) under the bus".{{cite web |last1=Maley |first1=Jacqueline |title=From Trump to the ABC: Changing culture of journalism in the call-out age |url=https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/you-can-t-say-that-you-can-t-even-print-it-the-changing-culture-of-journalism-in-the-call-out-age-20200612-p551we.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true |website=The Age |access-date=7 January 2021 |date=12 June 2020 |archive-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106135259/https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/you-can-t-say-that-you-can-t-even-print-it-the-changing-culture-of-journalism-in-the-call-out-age-20200612-p551we.html?js-chunk-not-found-refresh=true |url-status=live }}

Despite his background as a former Australian Greens candidate and advisor, Faruqi criticised the party in 2016, saying it needed to "re-evaluate and radically overhaul its current approach" in order to escape minor party status.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Without some serious soul searching, the Greens will never move beyond the 10% plateau |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/05/without-some-serious-soul-searching-the-greens-will-never-move-beyond-the-10-plateau |website=The Guardian |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615111633/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/05/without-some-serious-soul-searching-the-greens-will-never-move-beyond-the-10-plateau |archive-date=15 June 2020 |date=5 July 2016}}

In the wake of the Christchurch massacre, Faruqi was critical of what he described as a political climate of "normalising hatred and racism" that had led to far-right radicalisation in Australia.{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |title=Tears For Christchurch: Australia First Imported Hate In 1788. Now We're In The Export Business |url=https://newmatilda.com/2019/03/16/tears-for-christchurch-australia-has-been-importing-hate-since-1788-now-were-in-the-export-business/ |website=New Matilda |access-date=20 January 2021 |date=16 March 2019 |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120021911/https://newmatilda.com/2019/03/16/tears-for-christchurch-australia-has-been-importing-hate-since-1788-now-were-in-the-export-business/ |url-status=live }} In August 2018, Faruqi was doxxed by a far-right activist Avi Yemini and was "inundated with racist text message and phone calls".{{cite web |last1=Faruqi |first1=Osman |last2=Mann |first2=Alex |title=Doxxed: Exposing the terrifying new frontier in online abuse |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/doxing-the-new-frontier-in-online-trolling/10832652 |website=ABC Radio National |access-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105035053/https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/doxing-the-new-frontier-in-online-trolling/10832652 |archive-date=5 January 2021 |date=24 February 2019}} He was targeted on Twitter before he deleted his Twitter account.{{cite web |last1=Knott |first1=Matthew |title=Toxic tribalism and the sad, broken state of Australian conversation |url=https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/toxic-tribalism-and-the-sad-broken-state-of-australian-conversation-20190321-p5160h.html |website=The Age |access-date=7 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108001440/https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/toxic-tribalism-and-the-sad-broken-state-of-australian-conversation-20190321-p5160h.html |archive-date=8 November 2020 |date=22 March 2019}}

In 2018, Faruqi successfully sued former Australian Labor Party leader and current One Nation NSW Senator Mark Latham for defamation. Latham had accused Faruqi of "aiding and abetting Islamic terrorism" and fostering "anti-white racism in Australia" in a broadcast of his online politics show Mark Latham's Outsiders made on 2 August 2017.{{cite web |last1=McGowan |first1=Michael |title=Mark Latham agrees to pay damages to ABC's Osman Faruqi in defamation case |url=https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/26/mark-latham-agrees-to-pay-damages-in-defamation-case-against-abcs-osman-faruqi |website=The Guardian |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112015223/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/26/mark-latham-agrees-to-pay-damages-in-defamation-case-against-abcs-osman-faruqi |archive-date=12 November 2020 |date=26 November 2018}} The following day, the Daily Mail ran a story broadcasting Latham's comments, including a subheading claiming Faruqi and fellow Australian Muslim Yassmin Abdel-Magied were "giving encouragement to terrorist fanatics who kill innocent people".{{cite web |last1=Di Stefano |first1=Mark |title=This Journalist Is Threatening Legal Action Against The Daily Mail For An "Anti-White Racism" Story |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/osman-vs-the-mail |website=BuzzFeed News |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111211536/https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefano/osman-vs-the-mail |archive-date=11 November 2020 |date=17 August 2017}} Faruqi subsequently received a torrent of online abuse, including death threats.{{cite web |last1=Kelly |first1=Sean |title=Mark Latham: The outsider |url=https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2019/august/1564581600/sean-kelly/mark-latham-outsider#mtr |website=The Monthly |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108065231/https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2019/august/1564581600/sean-kelly/mark-latham-outsider |archive-date=8 November 2020 |date=1 August 2019}} When interviewed later by The Monthly, Faruqi said that "being accused of being a terrorist when you’re a brown guy from a Muslim background in Australia is a pretty scary thing". Latham's protracted 76-page defence was described by the judge as "extraordinary" and drew ridicule in the Australian press for its length and incoherence.{{cite web |last1=Lewis |first1=Charlie |title=Highlights from the Latham v Faruqi defamation case, presented without comment |url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/08/31/highlights-from-the-latham-v-faruqi-defamation-case/ |website=Crikey |access-date=6 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231032021/https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/08/31/highlights-from-the-latham-v-faruqi-defamation-case/ |archive-date=31 December 2020 |date=31 August 2018}}

In the wake of the judgment, Faruqi stated that he hoped that the case would demonstrate that "while robust debate is part of a healthy democracy, using your platform to harm the reputation of individuals comes at a cost".{{cite web |last1=Watkins |first1=Emily |title=Mark Latham decries 'lawfare' after settling Faruqi defamation case |url=https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/11/27/mark-latham-osman-faruqi-defamation/ |website=Crikey |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614213151/https://www.crikey.com.au/2018/11/27/mark-latham-osman-faruqi-defamation/ |archive-date=14 June 2020 |date=27 November 2018}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/osman-faruqi Osman Faruqi's profile] on The Guardian

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Category:Living people

Category:University of New South Wales alumni

Category:21st-century Australian journalists

Category:Male journalists

Category:Pakistani emigrants to Australia

Category:Australian Muslims

Category:The Guardian journalists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)