Senior advocate Sai Deepak on Friday exposed the narrative presented by the Pakistan High Commission in the UK regarding the scheduled debate between Indian and Pakistani representatives at the Oxford Union.
The debate “This House believes that India’s Policy Towards Pakistan Is a Populist Strategy Sold as Security Policy” was scheduled to be held on November 27.
The Pakistan High Commission in the UK claimed that the Indian delegation participating in the debate “backed out at the last minute" and handed a “walkover to the Pakistani side”. It claimed that Indian speakers offered “no substantive explanation for their inability to attend a debate they had previously confirmed."
In a series of posts on X, Sai Deepak exposed the Pakistan High Commission's claim and said that the Pakistani team is “genetically incapable of being truthful”.
"The Pakistani team, true to its national ethos, has mastered the art of deserting the battlefield even before the battle begins," the lawyer wrote in a post on X.
What Sai Deepak said
According to the lawyer, he had received an invitation from the Oxford Union to participate in the debate on July 7. He stated that after seeking clarification on the debate formations and participants, he confirmed his participation on July 30, which was acknowledged by the Oxford Union on October 4.
{{/usCountry}}According to the lawyer, he had received an invitation from the Oxford Union to participate in the debate on July 7. He stated that after seeking clarification on the debate formations and participants, he confirmed his participation on July 30, which was acknowledged by the Oxford Union on October 4.
{{/usCountry}}The lawyer said that he was initially informed that former Army chief General MM Naravane and former lawmaker Subramanian Swamy would also be participating in the debate.
“Two days before the debate, I was informed by the members of the Union that Dr. Swamy wouldn't be able to make it because he was indisposed and Shri Naravane too had an unavoidable commitment. So the Union asked me to suggest alternatives to both of them,” he wrote on X.
“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 added.
Sai Deepak said that Oxford Union, however, later informed that both, Chaturvedi and Seth, were unavailable due to short notice. Deepak said that he somehow organised a substitute team consisting of Manu Khajuria and Pt Satish K Sharma, who were already in the United Kingdom and arrived in London for the debate.
He added that three hours before the debate dinner, he received a call from the Oxford Union informing him that the Pakistani team had not arrived in England, prompting him and his team to stay back in the city.
He also said that he expressed his displeasure with Oxford Union president Moosa Harraj, who, according to the lawyer, is the son of Pakistan’s minister of defence production, Muhammad Raza Hayat Harraj.
“Moosa claimed that he received a call at 10 am yesterday that the Pakistani team wouldn't be coming. Obviously, he knew earlier. Turns out that the Pakistani team did land and were put up at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford,” he wrote.
He also challenged the Pakistani delegation to “debate on the topic” if they were in Oxford instead of “hiding”. The lawyer also slammed the Oxford Union’s handling of the situation and accused its leadership of turning into a “mouthpiece for Pakistani interests in the UK”.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also confirmed that she was approached for the debate and slammed the organisers for the chaos.
“Pakistan is crying again over an Oxford Union debate…Once again they have proved to be liars. Expecting any better from them was not even on my list,” the MP wrote on X.