The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat Radiation leak is a big story in the context of stupendous and non-stop Indian allegation about the safety of Pakistani nuclear facilities. Now that India is signing nuclear deals all over the world for the transfer of the “know how” and technology, the world must look in more detail India’s record in nuclear safety. A report regarding the nuclear radiation at India atomic reactor in Financial Times Newspaper of UK states “A radiation leak at a nuclear power station in the southern Indian state of Karnataka was caused deliberately, the Indian government said at the weekend. The leak at the Kaiga plant, run by the Nuclear Power Corporation of India, led to the hospitalisation of about 55 employees for tests. An investigation has been launched into how radioactive contamination entered a drinking water cooler at the plant near the coastal town of Mallapur.” The report goes on to say “Last week’s radiation leak comes as India plans a massive expansion of its nuclear ener...

By Sikander Hayat Mr Brown does not know how many soldiers Pakistan has lost to terrorists. You have been in Afghanistan for last eight years and you have not been able to break the back of Taliban & Al-Qaida. Why should not you be doing more to beat Taliban and Al-Qaida? Why with all your power, you were not able to stop Taliban from attacking the elections in Afghanistan? Why did you oversee the most corrupt elections in the history of the world? Pakistan is fighting your war and paying the price in the form of lost lives of innocent women, children and men. Don’t push Pakistan to the point where you have to hear “no more” from the people of this country. They are already paying the price of your sins as you attacked Afghanistan and then put it on the sidelines to attack Iraq. Why did you not care about Afghanistan when your eyes were all set on Iraq’s oil fields? Why did you not finish the job then when you had the chance? Why shift the blame now? In those years when you were ...

By Sikander Hayat What is the most pressing problem of Pakistan at the moment, terrorism you might say but I believe that there is an even bigger issue which is the underlying cause for terrorism as well. It is that of economy. It is rarely the case that chattering classes in Pakistan and the people who roam the corridors of power give economy a priority in their decision making. They are more concerned with trivialities of daily politics and the petty issues that have hampered Pakistan’s progress as a nation in last 60 years. As a people, Pakistanis like good gossip and that need is amply fulfilled by the politics. To them economy is boring and although it is the biggest problem Pakistan is facing right now, it is somewhere near the bottom on the list of priorities. After elections brought a civilian government back to power, Pakistan is reeling. It's not just the attacks by militants. The economy, which had been growing steadily, has been hit hard by spiking fuel and food costs. ...

By Sikander Hayat The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan is an area outside the four provinces bordering Afghanistan, comprising a region of some 27,220 km² (10,507 sq mi). The FATA are bordered by: Afghanistan to the west, the North-West Frontier Province and the Punjab to the east, and Balochistan to the south. The total population of the FATA was estimated in 2000 to be about 3,341,070 people, or roughly 2% of Pakistan's population. Only 3.1% of the population resides in established townships. It is the most rural administrative unit in Pakistan. FATA comprise seven Agencies, namely Khyber, Kurram, Bajaur, Mohmand, Orakzai, North and South areas of Waziristan. The main towns include Miranshah, Razmak, Bajaur, Darra Bazzar, Ghalanai as Head Quarters of Mohmand Agency and Wana . There are 20 legislators from FATA in the National Assembly and Senate of Pakistan. (12 MNAs & 8 Senators.) The region is only nominally controlled by the central government of Paki...

Victim In Fatal Car Accident Tragically Not Glenn Beck

By Sikander Hayat These days it is a fashion to predict an immediate demise of Pakistan but look at the history and you will see nothing but resilience from this country in the face of adversity. Pakistan has faced very dire moments in past as well. Especially when the Soviets were knocking at its door and threatening its very survival but it survived and prospered. I ask so called journalists to report facts and not what your readers want to hear, especially the so called independent media from India which has some kind of obsession with Pakistan. Let’s not call your wishes news or analysis. Don’t forget it is a country of 180 million people. UK, France and Germany combined barely come close in population terms, if there are incidents of lawlessness happening anywhere that is only natural in such a big country. Plus the war on terror has pushed all kinds of bad people from Afghanistan into Pakistan who are creating a lot of havoc. So please keep the analysis objective and not so biase...

By Sikander Hayat Government of Pakistan has presented the initial bill for the granting of further rights to Balochistan province. Before we talk about the points of the bill presented, we must know some basic realities about Balochistan. That will help us in understanding the background in which this bill is being presented. Baluchistan is the largest province in the country by geographical area and due to its scattered population, the most economically challenged as well. Its neighbouring regions are Iran to the west, Afghanistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to the north and Punjab and Sindh to the east.To the south is the Arabian Sea. Balochistan is believed to be rich in mineral resources. It is the second major, after Sindh, supplier of natural gas to the country. This issue of gas is also a major issue as Balochistan’s provincial government wants more royalty on the gas production in the province. Balochistan has a population of around 10 million inhabitants. Ove...

By Sikander Hayat It seems that we like to talk about democracy a lot. We also like to talk about the supremacy of constitution but what is actually happening is quite contrary to what we like to like to think about aourselves. We alsolike to say that Asif Ali Zardari is a crook, he has a record of corruption matched by very few, he has bank accounts full of Pakistani money spread all over the world, he has appointed ministers who’s past records are dodgy as hell but, and it is a big but, Asif Ali Zardari is an elected president, elected by the parliaments of Pakistan and its provinces. This parliament was elected by the people of Pakistan. Yes, the people of Pakistan elected this parliament and its president. Now either stop talking about the supremacy of people, supremacy of constitution, supremacy of democracy or stop talking about the removal Asif Ali Zardari with all means possible. This is not the way democracies work and certainly a country, where every media person likes to t...

By Sikander Hayat All the pictures are from Azad Kashmir First let’s talk about the geography & political structure of Azad Kashmir. The Azad State of Jammu and Kashmir, usually shortened to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) or, simply, Azad Kashmir, is the southernmost political entity of Pakistan. It covers an area of 13,297 km² (5,134 mi²), with its capital at Muzaffarabad , and has an estimated population of about four million. The state's financial matters, i.e., budget and tax affairs, are dealt with by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, instead of by Pakistan's Central Board of Revenue. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council is a supreme body consisting of 11 members, six from the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and five from the government of Pakistan. Its chairman/chief executive is the president of Pakistan. Other members of the council are Azad Kashmir's own president and prime minister and a few other AJK ministers. Azad Jammu and Kashmir has its ...

By Sikander Hayat There has been a feeling of mistrust between the countries of Afghanistan & Pakistan from the day of Pakistani independence from British rule. Afghanistan tried to stop Pakistan from becoming the member of United Nations as a recognised state. For the record, Iran was the first country to recognise Pakistan as an independent state on the map of the world. Afghanistan is a country where Pakhtuns have always dominated the corridors of power and their percentage in the ethnic composition of the country is 40% with Tajiks, Hazara, Uzbek and other ethnic group making rest of the 60%. Although there is a large number of non Pakhtun nationals of Afghanistan but still the ruling class of this country look at it as a Pakhtun nation and thereby give itself a responsibility to save the Pakhtuns living in neighbouring Pakistan. Here I am looking at the issue through the Afghan perspective which has the mindset that somehow people living in the tribal agencies of Pakistan need...

By Sikander Hayat At the moment Punjab has 60% of the population of Pakistan. Other Pakistanis think that Punjab is the usurper of their resources while at the same time people of Punjab are suffering the same prejudices as everyone else in the federation, like any Baloch, Sindhi, Pakhtun, Kashmiri, Balti & Hazara. Saying that, I must add that sometimes perceptions are as powerful as truth and there is a need to allay those fears. Many scholars in Pakistan have studied and commented upon case-histories such as Switzerland, Belgium, India and Nigeria, populated like Pakistan by diverse people having different languages and cultures. Switzerland has German, French, Italian and Romanch as languages and culture. Like the Punjab (60%) in Pakistan, Switzerland is dominated by the Germans (70%) but the country is divided into 26 cantons. At the time of independence in 1947, India had 7 provinces and a few Union-administered territories despite 24 distinct languages. Why then Pakistan ca...