First of all, Yalda Hakim reporting on Pakistan is like a North Korean immigrant reporting on events in South Korea while living in Canada — it will never be bias-free. It’s a cultural thing. And how do the people at Sky News not realize that?
Let me make it easier: Yalda Hakim reporting on Pakistan is like an Iranian guy living in the UK reporting on Saudi Arabia — or a German living abroad reporting on France. You get the idea.
The recent escalation between Pakistan and India has really exposed people’s core biases. While Indian media went full Bollywood, Yalda, with zero self-awareness, ended up exposing herself.
One of her so-called “breaking” moments was Khawaja Asif’s interview, where he states that Pakistan has been doing the West’s dirty work for decades. Yalda made a big fuss about this — going on different shows, podcast appearances, and even referencing it like she’d uncovered a new truth.
In the beginning of that video, she asks: “Have you seen what Khawaja Asif said on my show?”
I answer: Yes. But have YOU seen this?
This — what you think you just discovered — has been public knowledge for nearly 15 years now.
How do you not know this? How has this never crossed your eyes or ears?
How are you even where you are as a journalist?
Let me tell you how — but we’ll come to that.
Since you referenced the White House press briefing to legitimize your “scoop,” how about the former U.S. Secretary of State’s explicit remarks? Aren’t those worth referencing too? Surely, this isn’t just a mistake.
For those who don’t know: Yalda was born in Afghanistan, moved to Pakistan for a few years, and later migrated to Australia. She’s what we call a “third culture kid” — raised in an Afghan immigrant household, one she often describes as “politically charged.”
(Only a Pakistani would truly understand what a politically charged Afghan household sounds like.)
Asylum seekers and immigrants — especially from the third world — often create an alibi of struggle and trauma that appeals to Western sympathies. This helps them integrate and gain acceptance in their new homes. That alibi is often passed down to their children, who grow up more polished and strategic in using it to their advantage.
Yalda inherited a front-page immigrant story: her family escaped tyranny in Afghanistan, smuggled through Pakistan, and finally made it to Australia. For the West, this is a tale of resilience and survival.
But for Afghans? This is routine.
Being smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan and back is common even today. Back in the day, they wouldn’t even call it “people smuggling.” It was just traveling — like going from one city to another within the same province.
Of course, I’m sure a few details were added to make the story qualify for the right amount of Western sympathy.
I genuinely feel sorry for Yalda’s peers at university and work. She likely used this backstory to punch down on opponents, scoring opportunities and positions not on the basis of competence, but on the strength of her immigrant narrative. And as I said before, children of such parents know how to weaponize that story in ways their parents couldn’t even imagine.
In doing so, Yalda occupied space that could’ve gone to someone who actually knew that the U.S. has long admitted to supporting the Mujahideen in Afghanistan — via Pakistan.
She carries a particular attitude toward Pakistan, as many Afghans who’ve lived there do — that bittersweet mix of “thank you, but no thank you.”
Yalda has confirmed in interviews that her parents were very proud Afghans, always ready for war, with constant discussions in the house about Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Many Afghans hold Pakistan responsible for the instability in their country. That’s why, despite Pakistan hosting the largest number of Afghan refugees, it never really mattered to them.
You can see that tension on the ground too — with brawls breaking out at cricket matches, public gatherings, even attacks on Pakistani embassies.
That resentment was passed down to Yalda, growing up in Australia, and you can clearly see it in her reporting.
Being a journalist myself, I know how we all carry mental timelines — a catalogue of major international moments we constantly refer back to. That Hillary Clinton admission about the U.S. funding Mujahideen via Pakistan?
That was a big enough moment to be burned into the memory of any journalist covering global affairs.
So how was it “breaking news” to Yalda?
Only two explanations:
Either incompetence, propped up by an immigrant story. Or an agenda, born out of the complicated identity of an Afghan refugee who grew up resenting Pakistan — despite all it did.
