- By Supratik Das
- Tue, 13 May 2025 01:32 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
In a heated on-air exchange, former Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar stormed off a live TV debate after she was asked to explain Pakistan's record on terrorism and the influence of the military over civilian governments. Khar, who was Pakistan's first female Foreign Minister from July 2011, has been criticised in the past for being soft on Pakistan's treatment of terror outfits. The tense exchange took place on UK TV host Piers Morgan's 'Uncensored' show, where Indian journalist Barkha Dutt appeared on the panel amidst India-Pakistan tensions following Operation Sindoor.
The discussion quickly turned contentious when Dutt pressed Khar on Pakistan’s stance toward terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, widely recognised as responsible for cross-border terror attacks in India. Khar refused to directly acknowledge these groups as terrorist organizations and accused the Indian side of pushing a two-decade-old narrative. “This is the narrative you have been putting up for the last 20 years. I will not stop myself to answer this,” Khar said defensively. Barkha Dutt later shared a clip of the explosive exchange on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), stating, “I asked Pakistan’s former FM Hina Rabbani Khar to respond to some direct questions on Lashkar, Jaish, and the Pakistan Army—she could not take the truth—so she stormed out.”
Power cuts are so frequent in pakistan that they happen when you are losing a debate.
— satire_sarathy (@SarathySatire) May 13, 2025
Catch the disappearing act of @HinaRKhar on @piersmorgan #piersmorgan @BDUTT @BeerBicepsGuy pic.twitter.com/VqmpuoDjgb
Dutt didn’t hold back in calling out Pakistan's long-standing military intervention in politics. She brought to light the manner in which Pakistani prime ministers have traditionally been ousted, imprisoned, or forced into exile by the Army, contrasting it strongly with India's democratic practices. “Modi is an elected Prime Minister of India in his third term—unlike Prime Ministers of Pakistan who are appointed by the Army, jailed or exiled,” she said during the show. “Your country is in turmoil because Imran Khan has been jailed. Shehbaz Sharif is an Army-appointed PM. Did you hear what your Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said—that Pakistan used terrorism as a tool?” she added. As Dutt's charges grew more heated, Khar's feed suddenly went dark during the livestream, indicating her exit from the debate halfway through.
Pakistan's military allegedly broke a ceasefire mediated by the United States on May 10, just hours after India and Pakistan had agreed to it. MEA authorities reported that armed drones were observed entering Indian airspace and that shelling on the Line of Control (LoC) had resumed. Shortly after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif publicly recognized the ceasefire accord, the action was taken. As tensions grow in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack, the military's shadow once again hangs over Pakistan's democratic institutions. Pakistan's military has controlled the country directly for more than 30 years since gaining independence in 1947. They have carried out three major coups and have continued to do so even under civilian governments. No Prime Minister in Pakistani history has ever served a complete five-year term, most have been forced into exile, jailed, or worse.