The Londoner

The Government is coming under increasing pressure to reveal if the UK is providing intelligence to help the US carry out drone strikes in Pakistan. Lawyers for the son of a man killed in such an attack have written to the foreign secretary William Hague wanting to know what the UK's policy is. Pakistan has called the strikes, which the US does not publicly acknowledge, a violation of its sovereignty. The Foreign Office says it will study the letter closely before responding. The law firm Leigh Day & Co is acting on behalf of Noor Khan, whose father was killed earlier this year in a drone strike on a jirga - or council of elders - in north-west Pakistan . Richard Stein, head of human rights at the firm, said he wanted to know whether any information was being passed by agents of the UK Government to US Government forces to assist in the attacks. He said: "This legal action simply looks to ask a number of questions of our government regarding UK involvemen...

By Sikander Hayat Since Hasina Wajid has come to power in Bangladesh, relations with Pakistan are steadily going downhill. Pakistan has no borders with Bangladesh , there is no water or land issue and there is no reason for the Bangladeshis to keep hating Pakistan. A different generation of Pakistanis was responsible for the separation of Bangladesh and whatever took place in 1971. If a country wants better relations with another country, she will do that despite any issues and if a country wants to pick a fight than again it does not need a reason. Currently, Hasina Wajid's government is trying to rake up dirt at every possible moment. Here are some of the issues which this government is using to make sure that they always use Pakistan as a safe whipping boy: 1. War reparations2. Apology for civil war in East Pakistan3. Division of assets4. Opposing Pakistan at the WTO 5. Treason trial against those who supported the united Pakistan ( East & West) One can un...

By Sikander Hayat Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid press who should better be called “ blackmailing phone hackers ” are at it again. The gutter press like News of The World & The Sun are waging a campaign of misinformation against Pakistan cricket team . These are the same “newspapers” that get dragged into courts for many false stories and absolute lies. Phone hacking of parliamentarians is just one example of that. These newspapers hunt down Pakistanis every time this team visits England. Be it the false unproven allegations of ball tempering or match fixing. In their view of the world, England can never lose fairly and especially against Pakistan. There must be something corrupt about an England defeat to Pakistan. Pakistan cricket team pays the price for English press’s hatred against the Pakistanis especially & Muslims in general who are living in United Kingdom. The press spew venom at Muslims anytime it wants. For example today’s main headline in Express newspaper ...

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 British Pakistanis are searching for their identity. They are not accepted in their land of birth and nobody consider them a Pakistani in the land of their forefathers. In fact, they have nothing in common with their ancestors in Pakistan but at the same time they are rejected by the British mainstream . There is an extreme form of trust deficit between the old and new communities of Great Britain. First generation Pakistanis were a very afraid people . They were always careful not to hurt the feelings of the locals. They suffered abuse but did not say anything and kept on suffering in silence. Now that the second, third and in some cases even fourth generation of British Pakistanis is growing up in this country, things are different. They consider themselves equal to the average white British person and do not respond very kindly or understandingly to any abuse, discrimination or racism. After all they were born & bred in UK and they have no other land whi...

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan has lost one it’s most senior and trust journalist, columnist & opinion maker Irshad Ahmad Haqqani has died. His career spaned more than half a century and saw many upheavals in the history of Pakistan. He was a great thinker and the senior editor of The Daily Jang newspaper. He was also associated with Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman Society as Patron and was one among the founders of Jang newspaper Lahore besides, his columns Hurf-e-Tammana remained well acclaimed among different schools of thoughts including scholars, politicians and thinkers. According to knowledgeable sources, he had been ailing of heart problems for some days and had quitted writing columns for newspapers. It may be mentioned he offered his services as federal information minister during tenure of interim government in 1993.Earlier in the beginning of his career; the deceased remained annexed with Jamaat-e-Islami and also offered his services as principal Islamia College Qusoor. He has bereav...

Barcelona, Spain has one of the highest concentrations of Pakistani immigrants in Europe . This is a snapshot of this growing, dynamic, little-known community, revolving around the story of a Barcelona radio station set up by Pakistani immigrants. Ultimately, it is a story of immigration, the struggle between the homeland's traditions and Western values, in a country itself just learning to respond to a rapidly increasing immigrant population. HOME

By Sikander Hayat According to reports BBC Asian Network ( A BBC run radio station for its UK Asian audience) has lost more than 30% of its audience in last year. I think following are the reasons for its demise: 1. It has become a tool to propagate Indian point of view and is overly afflicted by Bollywood coverage than it should. 2. Anti Pakistani views of most of its presenter who happen to be of Indian origion 3. A very western outlook of the channel which is pushing away its more traditional views.

By Sikander Hayat I was very greatly offended by Sky’s choice of guest to represent Muslims in UK. Anjum Chaudhry’s place in not on the sky’s panel desk but in a high security jail because him representing Muslims is like Klu Klux Klan representing Christians. I would like to say to Mr Tim Marshall that what this man (Anjum Chaudhry) preaches is not Islam but his own perverted view of some cult which is anything but Islam. I would like to convey my anger and disgust to sky team for showing this man as a Muslim.

Few days ago it was revealed that Prince Harry had called one of his cadet friends at Sandhurst academy a “Paki” by saying that “I have a Paki Friend as well”. Now being a Pakistani who lives in UK, I have always been amazed by the sensitivity shown by the whites and the browns over the use of this word when in Pakistan itself slogans like “Paki Power” , “proud to be Paki” and “don’t mess with the Pakis” are frequently used during cricket matches played in Pakistan. The word Paki was first used as a short form for Pakistani when many immigrants arrived in the UK from Pakistan in the early 60s. Then later on it was started to be used for all brown people (immigrants from all of the subcontinent and from Uganda and Kenya). I can understated the unease of the Indians at being called Paki when clearly they are not from Pakistan but I cannot understand it when people from Pakistan start oos and aws at being called or referred to as Pakis. People from Afghanistan are Afghanis, not Afghan...

ISLAMABAD: Numerous employment opportunities exist for highly skilled Pakistani workforce in public as well as private sectors of Bahrain, said Ambassador of Bahrain to Pakistan, Mohamed Ebrahim Mohamed Abdulqader. Talking to Chairman National Vocational & Technical Education Commission (NAVTEC), Adnan A Khwaja, who called on him here on Thursday, he said although the Pakistani workforce working in Bahrain was good in number but there was a scope for absorption of properly trained Pakistani manpower in various sectors, including construction, services, banking and health. He, however, said employment opportunities for skilled Pakistani women like doctors, nurses, bankers and the security women were comparatively higher. He said many of the Pakistanis were enjoying a good status and reputation in his country in banking, police, intelligence and navy. Ambassador Ebrahim assured Adnan Khwaja that the Bahrainís mission will fully cooperate with the NAVTEC for exploring more jobs for Pa...

The stretch of Devon Avenue in North Chicago also named for Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, seems as if it has been transplanted directly from that country. The shops are packed with traditional wedding finery, and the spice mix in the restaurants’ kebabs is just right. Heavily Pakistani, the street is far more exposed to other cultures than are similar communities in Britain. “There is integration even when you have an enclave,” said Nizam Arain, 32, a lawyer of Pakistani descent who was born and raised in Chicago. “You don’t have the same siege mentality.” The most common response is no, at least not now, because of differences that have made Pakistanis in the United States far better off economically. “It makes it sound like it couldn’t happen here because we are the good immigrants: hard-working, close-knit, educated,” said Junaid Rana, an assistant professor of Asian-American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an American-born son of Paki...

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will fly twice a week to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, from July 2. Flights to Pakistan from Leeds were launched earlier this year by Pakistan's second national carrier, Shaheen Air International, but thADVERTISEMENTey were dropped in May after just four months. The airline blamed "lack of aircraft availability" for its decision. Tony Hallwood, commercial director at Leeds Bradford International Airport, said: "We are extremely pleased. A direct flight to Islamabad by PIA, one the leading international airlines, is a major achievement for the airport. "It is excellent news for Yorkshire, confirming that Leeds Bradford is Yorkshire's premier international gateway," he added. Mr Hallwood said he was particularly pleased with the speed with which a new operator had been found. PIA managing director, Mohammad Aijaz Haroon, said: "PIA's flight operation meets the demand of our customers in the Bradford and...

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of British Muslims from the United Kingdom arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for a weeklong visit aimed at sharing their experiences as Muslims living in Britain by engaging in constructive dialogue and debate. The delegation will focus on Islamabad and Mirpur, two Pakistani cities with prominent links to the Pakistani diaspora in the UK. The six-member delegation consists of British nationals of Pakistani origin from different walks of life. Their visit to Pakistan is part of the ‘Promoting British Islam’ programme that is support by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. During the week the group will meet with a wide range of people including politicians, university students, civil society groups and media. It is through this interaction and communication that mutual understanding and respect across communities can be increased. The delegation reflects a broad cross-section of Muslims from communities across the UK. The delegation comprises Jehangir Malik, ...

Pakistan said Thursday that it is in contact with the Spanish authorities on its nine nationals arrested for planning terrorist attacks in Spain and other European countries. Twelve Pakistanis were took into custody by Spanish police in Barcelona on Jan. 18, 2008 on the suspicion of planning terror attacks in Spain and other European countries. Among the 12 detained, nine were produced in the Madrid anti-terrorist court for hearing on Jan. 23, while others were released for insufficient evidence. The Spanish authorities claimed to have recovered bomb-making material and timing devices from the detained people. Sadiq said the detainees, who are in three different jails, were met by Pakistan's consular officials, and Pakistani embassy in Spain also requested the Spanish authorities to allow the families of the detainees to establish contact with them.