New Delhi : Did Pakistan walk out of a debate against India at the UK’s iconic Oxford Union even before it started? The quizzical turn of events on Thursday was blown open by a tweet from the Pakistan High Commission in the UK, which accused Indian speakers of backing out at the last moment. The Pakistani speakers had already arrived in #London and were scheduled to proceed to #Oxford today.
According to the Pakistan High Commission, the speakers from their side included former Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, the country’s envoy to the UK Mohammad Faisal, and former army general Zubair Mahmood Hayat. The tweet also listed former Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane, Subramanian Swamy, and former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot among India’s speakers.
News anchor Wajahat Kazmi was rejoicing his country’s “intellectual win,” claiming that “the Indian side attempted to offer little-known, lower-tier replacements who did not match the standard of the announced Pakistani panel. Sai Deepak also posted an email from the Oxford Union confirming his participation in the November 27 event last month.
Deepak said he was later informed by the Oxford Union that neither Swamy nor Naravane could attend the event, and he was asked to suggest alternatives. Before I could get back to the Union with alternatives, they called me to inform that they had reached out to Mr. Suhel Seth & Ms. Priyanka Chaturvedi, and that they had confirmed. I thought that was the end of the matter,” he went on.
The same was confirmed by the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, who said that the Oxford Union had actually reached out to her in July and that she had accepted their invitation on the condition that it would not clash with any Parliament session. Then they disappeared all this while and mailed me out of the blue on 25th November asking me to confirm my presence, for which they got a stinker from me for their unprofessional conduct and I refused to be party to such pathetic management.
Deepak then pointed out that three hours before the debate dinner, he received a call from the Union informing him that the debate had been cancelled because the Pakistani side hadn’t arrived in the UK. Deepak even shared his call log on his X thread to show that he had received a call from the organiser, Moosa Harraj, who was apologising for cancelling at the last moment. And then came the U-turn. It turned out that Moosa Harraj, who is also the son of Pakistan’s Minister of Defence Production, Muhammad Raza Hayat Harraj, had been lying all along.
Read Also : Software Updates Completed For Half Of Affected A320 Planes In India
-
-
-
-
