The Londoner

By Sikander Hayat Lyari is considered one of the most dangerous places in Karachi due to ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry; certain areas of the town are literally controlled by gangs and municipal authorities have no power. Hence, the town has also been the site of many police operations. The two biggest gang leaders in Lyari were Rehman Dakait and Arshad Pappu, who were the most-wanted criminals in Karachi. Rehman Dakait died in a police operation and allegations about that police encounter are still flying around. Lyari is considered as the most backward area. Few schools, no proper hospitals, poor water system, not much facilities, broken roads are a feature of this area and made it the most dangerous place in Karachi.Last few days have seen the level of violence in Lyari go up to previously unseen levels. There has been so much bloodshed in Lyari because of a dangerous mix of politics, gangland activity, narcotic trade and ethnic animosity between the Bal

By Sikander Hayat Multan is my city and my favourite place in the world. It is situated in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. It is located in the southern part of the province. Multan District has a population of over 3.8 million and the city itself is the sixth largest within the boundaries of Pakistan. It is situated on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about 966 km (600 mi) from Karachi. There is a strong desire in the people of Multan to be declared a separate province of Pakistan as it is the heartland of the Saraiki speaking people. The new Multan province will have all of South Punjab included in it with the city of Multan declared the capital of South Punjab. Majority of Punjabi & Urdu speakers in Multan also support the demand for new province as well. Multan is known as the City of Sufis due to the large number of shrines and Sufi saints from the city. The city is full of bazaars, mosques, shrines and ornate tombs.

By Sikander Hayat There are reports that two men have been detained in a plane bound for Dubai. These men made verbal threats and were reported by fellow passengers to the staff. Armed Police than entered the plane with dogs and removed the men in question. It is not yet clear what was said and the number of people involved in the security incident. I hope it was nothing serious, otherwise there will be further media witch hunt against the innocent and law abiding Muslim citizens of Europe. Right wing publications like daily mail will have a hay day of spreading further hate.

By Sikander Hayat England bowlers have been found to be involved in tampering the ball during the test at Cape Town. ICC have decided not to take any action despite the fact that the television cameras clearly show Stuart Broad & Jimmy Anderson doing ball tampering to make the ball reverse swing. My only question is that if this was Pakistan, the whole world media, the ICC and everyone else would have been crying at the top of their lung capacity to say Pakistanis were cheats but in case of England, there are no voices to be heard from the “esteemed” British media and the rest of the world. Why are there double standards when it comes to Pakistan? Why England crickets are not called cheats when clearly they were involved in cheating. When Pakistan had a great bowling attack in the form of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis & Shoaib Akhtar, who could bowl reverse swing at 100 miles per hour, it was called cheating but when England bowlers bowl reverse swing, it becomes art. You decide.

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and now Yemen are under effective American occupation. Latin America was pacified during the reign of Ronald Reagan and “evil empire” of Soviet Union is long gone. Times are tough both for US and the Muslims around the world. Especially Muslims living as minorities in Western countries. With each passing day their future is becoming more and more bleak. The Al-Qaeda Terrorists are doing their best to isolate Muslims living in Europe & America from the mainstream societies and having a considerable success in doing so. With each and every attack or attempted attack on western interests, press coverage is painting all Muslims with the same brush. America is a juggernaut which will only change course when its time as an empire runs out like it did for Romans and Greeks before them. America will keep interfering in unstable parts of the world because when it does not, it gets blamed for not doing so. America will remain pro Israel as no one

By Sikander Hayat Kamran Akmal single handedly cost Pakistan a match which was in the hands of Pakistan. He dropped 4 catches in the second innings. This is criminal. This guy has cost Pakistan the match. This is it. Pakistan has lost it. Kamran Akmal is really down on confidence and needs to be rested for some time. Australia played really well aided by the worst captaincy in recent times. Pakistan's negative tactics had put them in a very bad situation. Absolutely rediculous captaincy by Muhammad Yousuf. Pakistan needs to have three different teams for each format of the game. Otherwise there is no chance in hell for this Pakistan who have lost all 7 test they played last year and the first one this year.

By Sikander Hayat Pakistan have not won a test match against Australia for last 15 years but tomorrow Pakistan has a historic chance of winning one. At the end of 3rd day’s play, Australia are 80 runs ahead in their second innings with 2 wickets remaining. Pakistan bowled really well, especially Danish Kaneria & Umer Gul bowled with great heart. Umer Gul proved that his inclusion was the right one and took important wickets at important times in the second innings. The match would have been over by now if Kamran Akmal had not given Australia at least five chances during the day. It was a day when he forgot to keep wickets and just like his brother Umer Akmal forgot to catch as well. He must up his game both in wicket keeping and batting to give Pakistan a chance to win. His batting could prove vital on the 4th day when Pakistan will chasing in their second innings. Pakistan will be chasing a score between 150 & 200 and given how Pakistan has fared in the past run chases, it wi