The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat Canada has today announced that they have captured a cell of terrorists who were planning to detonate explosives. Mohammad Alizadeh, a 30-year-old Ottawa resident, Misbahuddin Ahmed, a 26-year-old also from Ottawa, and Khurram Syed Sher, a 28-year-old London, Ontario resident, were charged with facilitating a terrorist activity. This situation will definitely create problems for Muslims living in Canada even though they had nothing to do with creating it. Canada was one major western country where Muslims felt safe and were generally not discriminated against but this event has the potential to change all that. At the moment the investigation is at the very beginning and it could turn out to be the case that at least two out of these three people are found to be innocent who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. But the damage is already done. My main concern is large Pakistani community living in Canada who will surely bear the social burden of the fallo...

By Sikander Hayat Today is 14th of August , the day when in 1947 Pakistan won its independence from Britain . 64 years have passed and Pakistan has made a lot of progress in all fields of life. Today should have been a day when Pakistanis felt happy but floods of a magnitude not seen in Pakistan’s history since 1908 have made this day a day for contemplation instead of celebration. There are millions of people on the move in Pakistan who have lost their homes in Baluchistan , Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. Pakistan is facing unprecedented hardship at this moment in time and they require all the help they can get from the wider world. This was the harvest time in Pakistan but rising waters did not give anyone a chance to salvage anything, the lucky ones barely escaped with their lives. Pakistan is the gift of Indus just as the Egypt is the gift of Nile but this time Indus is angry. At its widest, the river banks have swollen upto 20 kilom...

The following article has been written by by Ardeshir Cowasjee on Sunday, 08 Aug, 2010 in Dawn newspaper. I find it really interesting and agree with the suggestion made by Mr Cowasjee . I think that it is high time we took this decision. I do not for one moment think that it will not be objected to but it needs to be done. Here goes the article by Mr Cowasjee: "This country is suffering manifold miseries, as it has for many a year, but now more than ever, mainly inflicted by the forces of nature ably aided by the incompetence and follies of mankind. That every nation has the government it deserves does not right now aptly apply to Pakistan since it has, to all intents and purposes, a non-government incapable of doing what it was elected and is paid to do. Amidst the massive loss of life from north to south and the suffering of countless innocent deprived citizens, to offset the national and international negativity besetting us and to give a little light relief (with w...

By Sikander Hayat After devastating Khyber Pakhtunkhwa & Punjab, flood waters have now entered Sindh province and the water is destroying everything standing in its way. United Nations have called for material help from the world community to provide some relief to the victims of these floods. BBC has launched an appeal for donations as well. Hope this all is not too late for the majority of the victims as is it already too late for the thousands who have already perished. Related Posts: 1. Pakistan Floods - Thousands Dead, Millions Displaced

By Sikander Hayat India has no excuse this time. It used to be “Pakistan based” terrorists who were fighting the 700,000 Indian army/paramilitary troops in Indian held Kashmir. Now it’s the “Pakistan based” stone throwers who are being butchered by “brave” Indian army on the streets of Srinagar & other parts of Kashmir. Worst part of the tragedy is that this killing is indiscriminate. They are killing women, children & anyone who dare to say the word azadi (freedom). India is the so called biggest democracy of the world but a people who ask in their overwhelming majority for azadi are being crushed through the barrel of gun. I am sure this episode will be crushed soon and less than a week later that, Indian establishment will be congratulating each other for the heroism that their armed forces shown in the valley of Kashmir. But deep down in their hearts even they know that every time they crush a rebellion, they crush it only temporarily, because the basic issue has been and s...

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan is facing a catastrophe upon catastrophe at the moment. Earth quakes, terror & now the record breaking floods. Last time Pakistan had to face floods of this magnitude was in 1929 and the devastation this time is unprecedented due to fact that in 1929 most of effected areas were sparsely populated. To rub salt on Pakistan’s wounds, the W58dest blames everything on Pakistan just because whenever their minds go blank the backup answer to every terror inquiry is “it must be Pakistan”. Pakistan is a country which lost most due to first the Soviet occupation & now the American/British occupation of Afghanistan. These two events have pushed more than 30 million refugees into Pakistan and have destroyed the social fabric of the country with many parts of Pakistan feeling the ethnic tensions. Karachi is the best example of this phenomenon where Muhajirs & Pakhtuns have a high degree of animosity against each other. Government of Pakistan has deployed army ...

By Sikander Hayat I am now starting to agree with Hasan Nisaar (prominent columnist for Jang & host of the TV programme Choraha) that it is the people of Pakistan who are responsible for their own plight. They have decided not to learn from their past and keep electing the same people & families to the national/provincial legislatures of Pakistan. All of Pakistan’s federating units have been made virtual fiefdoms of certain families. Why Pakistanis have resigned to the fact that Billawal Zardari & Hamza Shahbaz Sharif will run our future affairs? Why Pakistanis keep electing the same people again & again and then hope for change? Who is responsible for change? Pakistan’s election day turn out is roughly 30%, which means that 70% of the Pakistanis nation has decided to not have a say in any national elections. How can you expect change when you don’t vote? Pakistan’s destiny will only change when this voter apathy will end, when Pakistanis take it upon themselves to get...