Pakistani-Canadian broadcaster & writer
Tahir Aslam Gora
A Novelist, Poet, Journalist, Broadcaster and Socio-Political Activist
Pakistani-Canadian broadcaster, editor, publisher, translator and writer of fiction and non-fiction — a campaigner for freedom of expression with over 30 years in journalism and literature.
30+ years in journalism & literatureShows watched 100M+ timesFounder & CEO, TAG TV
Tahir Gora’s Podcast — “Canada Prepares to Welcome Modi! Do India–Canada Ties Face Khalistani Hurdles?”
His story
From Lahore’s literary world to a Canadian microphone
Tahir Aslam Gora was born in Lahore in 1963 and grew up inside a world of letters. He published his first book — the Urdu short-story collection Safar Akher Safar Hey — while barely in his twenties, and in 1987 he founded Gora Publishers, which went on to publish more than 200 works of literature and social science. As editor-in-chief of the socio-political weekly Hafta and the literary journal Rujhanaat, he became a noted critic of religious intolerance in Pakistan.
That criticism carried a price. Threatened for his writing, he was forced to flee Pakistan in the spring of 1999 and found asylum in Canada. He rebuilt his public life from the ground up: forming the New Islam Foundation in 2000, serving as Secretary General of the Muslim Canadian Congress, translating Irshad Manji’s The Trouble with Islam Today into Urdu, and writing for Canadian newspapers — among them the Hamilton Spectator, HuffPost and The Epoch Times. He went on to found the Canadian Thinkers Forum, the Progressive Muslims Institute Canada and the Muslim Committee Against Antisemitism, and to testify before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
With his wife Haleema Sadia he launched TAG TV, a US-and-Canada-based Urdu-Hindi news channel whose shows have been watched more than 100 million times. In 2019 he carried his arguments directly to voters, standing for the People’s Party of Canada in the federal election in Mississauga—Malton. And in 2023 he and Haleema Sadia co-founded the Canadian South Asian Literary Festival — first held in Brampton, returning to Burlington in 2024 — bringing the region’s writers together in Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and English.
Books & writings
Novels, stories, poems & a warning to the West
He writes in Urdu and Hindi — fiction, poetry and polemic — and his work has travelled into Hindi, Russian and Uzbek. Four works that mark the arc:
Mohlat
Novel in Urdu · Tarteeb Publishers, Pakistan, 1993
The novel that announced him in Pakistan — published the same year as his Urdu poetry collection, from the literary world he would soon be forced to leave.
Submission: The Danger of Political Islam to Canada — With a Warning to America
Non-fiction · Co-authored, foreword by Raheel Raza
His landmark non-fiction work, written with Tom Quiggin, Jonathon Cotler, Rick Gill and Saied Shoaaib — a warning about political Islam addressed to Canada, and to America.
Safar Akher Safar Hey
Short stories in Urdu · Maktaba Tamseel, Pakistan, 1985
His first book — an Urdu short-story collection published while he was barely in his twenties, at the start of a life in letters.
This is not a Matter of Sorrow
Poetry in English translation · Tarteeb Publishers, 1997
His poetry carried into English — the voice of the Urdu collections, reaching readers far beyond the language they were written in.
Shows & media
On air, almost every day
From the TAG TV studio in Mississauga, his programmes reach Urdu-Hindi viewers across Canada and the United States — daily news-talk, long-form conversation and a geopolitics podcast that has become essential viewing for the diaspora.
TAG TV
SA Newsline
TAG TV’s flagship daily South Asia news-talk — the day’s Pakistan, India and diaspora stories, argued out loud.
YouTube · Tahir Gora
Arzoo Kazmi with Tahir Gora
Recurring conversations with Pakistani journalist Arzoo Kazmi — among the most-watched formats on his personal channel.
YouTube · Tahir Gora
Tahir Gora’s Podcast
His branded podcast on geopolitics — from India–Canada relations to the wars reshaping South Asia.
TAG TV
Bilatakalluf
His signature talk show — bilatakalluf means “without inhibition” — candid, free-wheeling conversation with guests from politics, media and the arts.
Voices & causes
The arguments he keeps making
Canadian Thinkers Forum
A forum for open debate on Canada’s future, founded by Gora — who testified as its Director General before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, taking the argument for vigilance and free speech directly to Parliament.
Submission — the book
Submission: The Danger of Political Islam to Canada — With a Warning to America, co-authored with Tom Quiggin, Jonathon Cotler, Rick Gill and Saied Shoaaib, with a foreword by Raheel Raza — his case, in print, against the spread of political Islam in the West.
Muslim reform & freedom of expression
A member of the Muslim Reform Movement and founder of the Progressive Muslims Institute Canada, he campaigns against political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood, and for the freedom to speak, write and publish without fear — the freedom he once had to cross an ocean to find.
Muslim Committee Against Antisemitism
He founded the Muslim Committee Against Antisemitism — Muslim voices standing publicly against antisemitism, and for the safety and dignity of Jewish Canadians.
Canadian South Asian Literary Festival
Co-founded with Haleema Sadia, the festival celebrates South Asian writing in Canada — first held in Brampton in 2023 and returning to the Art Gallery of Burlington in 2024, where he also staged his “Bilatakalluf” show. The festival launched the Nalanda Awards for poetry, fiction and non-fiction — in his words, “Any literature produced in Canada is after-all Canadian Literature.”
Voices & causes
Engagements with India
His work has repeatedly brought him onto platforms hosted by Indian institutions — and brought India’s senior diplomats to his.
Speaker — International Conference on Radicalisation, New Delhi
Listed among the speakers at “Radicalisation: Threats to the Architecture of Global Stability”, an international conference organised by the Indian Institute of Management Rohtak — an institution of the Government of India — with speakers and delegates from over 25 countries. He was billed as “Eminent Canadian Broadcaster, Editor & Publisher”.
His Festival Inaugurated by India’s High Commissioner
The inaugural edition of the festival he co-founded — and its Nalanda Awards ceremony — was inaugurated by the High Commissioner of India to Canada, H.E. Sanjay Kumar Verma, together with the Consul General of India, Toronto, Siddhartha Nath.
India’s High Commissioner, Interviewed at His Studio
At a sensitive moment in India–Canada relations, High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma gave an interview at Gora’s TAG TV studio, setting out India’s position on his channel (ANI, 28 November 2023).
Chief Guests Again — Burlington, 2024
At the festival’s second edition, the Consul General of India, Toronto, and the High Commissioner of India to Canada were the chief guests on both days — India’s missions honouring his platform for a second year running.
Honours
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
Awarded for his services to multicultural Canadian society — a national honour for a writer who made Canada his home, and then spent a career widening the conversation it has with itself.
Connect
Follow the conversation
His channels, in his own words and on his own platforms — commentary, programmes and new writing as they appear.
X (Twitter) — Personal @TahirGora His personal account — commentary, poetry and announcements. X (Twitter) — TAG TV @tagtvcanada The channel’s official account. YouTube — Tahir Gora @tahirgorachannel Near-daily podcasts and conversations on Pakistan, India–Canada relations and geopolitics. Facebook — TAG TV tagtvcanada The TAG TV page — shows, clips and live updates. Instagram — TAG TV @tag.tv Photos and short clips from the studio. TAG TV — Official site tagtv.info The channel’s news site — SA Newsline and the latest programmes. TAG TV Studio +1 905-320-0906 TAG TV’s public studio line — 2355 Derry Rd E #35, Mississauga, ON · Mon–Fri, 12:30–7:30 PM (the channel’s business contact).