Who is Yalda Hakim, Afghan-born journalist who schooled Pakistani ministers?
Yalda Hakim’s interview with Pakistan’s fefence minister Khawaja Asif went viral as he admitted Pakistan’s support, funding, and training of terrorist groups.
Yalda Hakim, an Afghanistan-born journalist, has gone viral for her sharp interviews with senior Pakistani ministers, where she grilled and fact-checked them over Pakistan’s long-standing denials of sponsoring terrorism.
Her interviews gained attention amid the recent India-Pakistan tensions following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives.
One of the most talked-about moments came from her April 24 interview with Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif, where he openly admitted that Pakistan had provided training, funding, and support to terrorist groups.
Asif said that Pakistan was carrying out this “dirty work” on behalf of the United States and western countries, including Britain.
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In further interviews, on May 7, Hakim confronted Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar. When Tarar denied the existence of terror camps in Pakistan, she firmly countered him by referencing past statements made by the country’s own leaders.
“In fact, in 2018, President Donald Trump cut military aid to Pakistan because he accused Pakistan of playing a double game. So when you say there are no terrorist camps in Pakistan, that is going against what General Pervez Musharraf has said, what Benazir Bhutto has said, what your Defence Minister said just a week ago,” Hakim told Tarar.
Who's Yalda Hakim?
- Yalda Hakim was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and fled with her family to Australia as refugees, where they resettled, according to Sky News.
- An award-winning international correspondent and documentary filmmaker, she has dedicated over twenty years to reporting from various parts of the world.
- She began her journalism journey with SBS World News Australia and gained international recognition through her coverage of conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Gaza, Iraq, and Darfur.
- In 2023, she joined Sky News and currently anchors The World with Yalda Hakim, a primetime weekday program airing at 9 pm.
- Prior to joining Sky News, she was a lead presenter at BBC World News, hosting Impact with Yalda Hakim, where she conducted high-profile interviews with prominent global leaders, including Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Antony Blinken, Bill Clinton, Justin Trudeau, Sheikh Hasina, Joko Widodo, and Ashraf Ghani.
- Hakim's direct and challenging questions have earned her international acclaim for upholding journalistic integrity and accountability.
- Besides journalism, she is an accomplished documentary filmmaker, producing investigative pieces on subjects such as ISIS activities in Iraq, human trafficking in Yemen, and foreign interference in US elections.
- She established the Yalda Hakim Foundation in 2018, which provides scholarships to Afghan women and girls, collaborating with institutions like Oxford University to support their education.
- Fluent in multiple languages including English, Dari, Urdu, Hindi, Persian, and Pashto, she is also currently learning Mandarin.
