Nawabzada Salahuddin Saeed Khan Tanoli

Nawabzada Salahuddin Saeed Khan Tanoli

Nawabzada Salahuddin is the present Chief of Tanawalis and the present Nawab of Amb. He is the son of Nawab Muhammad Saeed Khan. He holds the record of being the youngest parliamentarian ever to be elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan and then went on to be elected five times to the National Assembly of Pakistan (from 1985 to 1997), a feat only achieved by seven other Pakistani parliamentarians, including the current Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

He held portfolios in the federal government, such as, parliamentary secretary and standing committee chairman during his tenure. He has also stayed as care taker provincial minister in the Kyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly. He has twice led a delegation of Pakistan to the United Nations General Assembly and also at several other international forums, such as a Common Wealth election observer in Kenya, delegation to SAARC and the Cancun Summit on Natural Habitat.

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Redrawing boundaries: Tanolis demand separate district

Thousands of people assembled in Mansehra, on Friday, to demand a new district comprising the areas inhabited by the dominant Tanoli tribe.


Villagers from over twenty union councils from Mansehra, Abbottabad and Haripur districts gathered in Darband in support of Tanawal district. Speaking on the occasion, former five-time MNA and a descendent of Nawab of Amb, Nawabzada Salahuddin Saeed said that the area, once part of the former princely state of Amb, was inhabited by the Tanoli tribe.

After the annexation of Amb state with Pakistan, he said Tanawal was neglected and the people were deprived of their basic rights and development over the past six decades.

“During my tenure as MNA I did my best to initiate development schemes in the area but the lack of interest by successive governments acted as a major deterrent to development,” Saeed added.

He said the ANP, the ruling party in the province, had struggled for 63 years to rename the North West Frontier Province as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the same was the case with the people from the region popularly known as Tanawal, who have been demanding their separate district. Tanoli is the biggest tribe in upper and lower Tanawal. He urged the provincial government to respect the demands of people from lower and upper Tanawal and announce the creation of the new district.

Former provincial minister Habibur Rehman Tanoli said the Tanoli tribe would unconditionally support ANP if the provincial government creates Tanawal district. He expressed the hope that the ANP leadership would not disappoint the Tanolis and grant them their own identity.

Provincial minister for information Mian Iftikhar Hussain also supported the proposal for Tanawal district provided the Tanolis could develop consensus before taking a final decision.

“The issue of Tanawal district will be taken up with the government after the next census which is likely to be carried out in the near future.”

Provincial minister asked participants to constitute a consensus committee to negotiate with all stakeholders and finalise the number of union councils which would like to be part of the proposed district and decide where the headquarters should be situated.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15th, 2012.

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Pakistani girl sets new world record in O levels

11 eleven years old Sitara Akbar set new world record in O levels and also holds the title of the youngest Pakistani candidate in IELTS. – Photo courtesy of British Council of Pakistan.

KARACHI: A Pakistani girl has become the youngest student in the world to have passed the British Ordinary Level (O’Level) examination.


Sitara Brooj Akbar, at the age of 11, passed six O’level subjects including Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.


In addition to this honour, Sitara also holds the title of being the youngest Pakistani candidate of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and successfully attained seven bands out of nine, scoring 7.5 in the testing system.


The little genius from Chiniot (Punjab) has been making headlines across local media but is yet to receive any recognition from the Government of Pakistan.


“We don’t need any sort of monetary aid from the government, we just want the government to recognise that Sitara has made a shining example for Pakistan on the international stage and she is the daughter of Pakistan,” Sitara’s father Ali Akbar told Dawn.com.


Ali Akbar added that the British Council has declared and recognised Sitara’s feat as the world’s youngest student to have passed O’level exams. However, she has only been declared the youngest IELTS candidate in Pakistan, and not across the world, as the British Council is yet to confirm her feat globally.


Speaking to Dawn.com, Sitara’s mother mentioned that her daughter is a great fan of Dr Abdus Salam, Pakistan’s sole Nobel laurete and aims to become a top researcher in the field of biochemistry.

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Funeral prayer of Arfa Karim offered

LAHORE: Funeral prayer of Arfa Karim, the world's youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), has been offered here on Sunday morning.

Arfa Karim

Sindh Minister for Information Technology Mohammad Raza Haroon has announced to dedicate the IT Media City, Karachi to the Microsoft Expert Arfa Karim, on the guideline of MQM chief Altaf Hussain.
The City shall be referred to as Arfa Karim IT Media City, Karachi, said a statement issued here on Sunday.
It may be noted that the IT Media City is a project of Sindh IT Department being implemented to develop a modern/ world class media city in Karachi on 200 acres of land near Super Highway at Link Road between Super Highway and National Highway.
Arfa Karim Randhawa (1995 to January 14, 2012), was a Pakistani student and computer prodigy, who in 2004 at the age of nine years became the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional (MCPs) in the world, a title she kept until 2008. (APP)

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NEF director moves court against employees - Fayaz Tanoli

Fayaz Tanoli

Director National Education Foundation (NEF) of Gilgit Baltistan, Yasmin Ali, moved the Islamabad trial court to register an FIR against some NEF officials who forced her to approve “false allegations” against the foundations’ managing director.

Additional Session Judge Muhammad Rafat Sultan directed Station House Officer (SHO) Margalla Police station Fiaz Tanoli to submit a report on the matter on May 26.

In an application submitted before the court, she alleged that she was forced by NEF Project Director Sirajud Din, along with other employees Shabazullah, Haji Irfan, Muhammad Noor, Munir, Tanveer and others, to approve fabricated embezzlements against the foundation’s Managing Director Kamran Zafar and an employee Waqar Gilani. She said she reported the incident to Margalla police but they kept delaying registration of an FIR against the NEF employees.

She said Din had called her to the NEF head office in Islamabad on May 18 on an emergency basis and forced her to sign some company documents to forge an embezzlement case against the two NEF officials. She alleged that Din, along with the named employees, locked her in a room for 10 hours and threatened to depose her from her post if she failed to comply. “They even snatched my mobile phone from me and put me in a room for over 10 hours,” she wrote. She said after she signed the papers, they allowed her to leave the office building late at night.

Ali said she reported the incident with the Margalla police soon after she was released but the police kept delaying registration of an FIR against the NEF officials and asked her to leave an application with the department assuring her that the FIR will be filed soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2011.

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