Oxford Union Debate
The debate was organised by Oxford Union president Moosa Harraj, who is of Pakistani origin and the son of Pakistan’s federal defence production minister Muhammad Raza Hayat Harraj. The Union did not announce the speakers publicly.
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Senior advocate J Sai Deepak flew from Delhi and handled his hearings remotely from London to attend the debate. He was joined last minute by UK-based J&K activist Manu Khajuria and dharmic scholar Pt Satish K Sharma. Former Army Chief Gen MM Naravane and Dr Subramanian Swamy had withdrawn earlier. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and marketing consultant Suhel Seth were approached too late to participate. Chaturvedi said the Union had first contacted her in July and later on November 25, by which time she could not confirm.
Debate Day Confusion
Sai said that as the speakers were preparing to leave on November 27, he received a call from the Oxford Union at 3.13 pm local time saying the Pakistan team had not landed in London. At 4.55 pm, Sai said he received a call from Harraj, who admitted he had known since 10 am that Pakistan’s speakers — Zubair Mahmood Hayat, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee, and former Pakistan foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar — would not attend. The Indian speakers were offered a debate against students instead, which they declined.
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Sai Deepak calls it Operation Manhoos ki hui baniyan
Sai said he learned on Friday that the Pakistan delegation had in fact arrived in Oxford. He criticised the event as “shambolic” and accused the Oxford Union of acting as 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 said.
He added, “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.”