A highly anticipated debate at the prestigious Oxford Union on India's policy toward Pakistan collapsed into chaos and was ultimately cancelled on Thursday night, leaving Indian participants frustrated and accusing the organizers of severe mismanagement and bias.
Last-Minute Cancellation Sparks Controversy
The debate, organized by Pakistani-origin Oxford Union president Moosa Harraj - whose father Muhammad Raza Hayat Harraj serves as Pakistan's federal defence production minister - was scheduled to discuss the motion "This House believes That India's Policy Towards Pakistan Is a Populist Strategy Sold as Security Policy."
Senior advocate J Sai Deepak had flown specially from Delhi for the event, having confirmed his participation back in July. He was conducting his court hearings remotely from London to accommodate the debate schedule. He was joined by two last-minute replacements: UK-based Jammu and Kashmir activist Manu Khajuria and dharmic scholar Pt Satish K Sharma.
The Indian team had undergone significant changes before the event. Former Army Chief General MM Naravane and parliamentarian Dr Subramanian Swamy had earlier withdrawn from participation. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi revealed that while the Oxford Union had approached her in July, she hadn't confirmed her participation, and they contacted her unexpectedly on November 25, which was too late for her to arrange travel.
Pakistan Delegation's No-Show and Misinformation
The situation escalated on November 27 when the Indian delegation received shocking news. At 3:13 PM local time, as the Indian participants were preparing to depart for Oxford, Sai Deepak received a call informing him that the Pakistani delegation had not arrived in London.
According to Deepak, at 4:55 PM, he received a personal call from Oxford Union president Moosa Harraj, who admitted he had known since 10:00 AM that the Pakistani delegation - comprising Zubair Mahmood Hayat, former chairman joint chiefs of staff committee, and Hina Rabbani Khar, former Pakistan foreign minister - would not be attending.
In a bizarre twist, at 2:44 PM - before Harraj's call to the Indian team - the Pakistan High Commission in London tweeted claiming victory, falsely stating that the Indian delegation had withdrawn from the debate.
The Pakistan High Commission's tweet accused India of having "a lack of confidence" in defending its Pakistan policy "in an open, rules-based forum," and claimed Indian representatives preferred "partisan media platforms" over "neutral and intellectually rigorous debate."
Indian Participants React Strongly
J Sai Deepak expressed his frustration, stating he only discovered on Friday that the Pakistani delegation had actually arrived in the UK and were present in Oxford. He strongly criticized what he called the "shambolic management of the entire event" and accused the Oxford Union of becoming a "mouthpiece for the Pakistan high commission."
"Instead of conducting a civil debate, Oxford Union has allowed Pakistan to claim a false victory. If we knew the Pakistan team had landed, we would have debated them," Sai stated emphatically.
He challenged the Pakistani delegation directly, saying, "If they are still in Oxford, they should find the courage to debate us instead of doing an Operation Manhoos ki phati hui Baniyan where their defence minister couldn't even produce evidence of their so-called success."
The Oxford Union had never publicly announced the speakers for the debate, adding to the opacity of the entire process. When the Pakistani delegation failed to appear, the Indian team was offered a debate against students instead, which they refused, leading to the complete cancellation of the event.
