A heated debate on a Pakistani TV channel turned violent when two politicians from opposing parties started to assault each other on-air physically. The incident, captured on video, has gone viral on social media and sparked outrage among the viewers.
The brawl occurred Monday night during a show on Geo News, a popular Pakistan-based news channel. The show, called Capital Talk, was hosted by veteran journalist Hamid Mir and featured four guests: Fawad Chaudhry, the federal minister for science and technology; Fayyaz ul Hassan Chohan, the provincial minister for prisons; Qamar Zaman Kaira, the former federal minister and senior leader of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP); and Malik Ahmed Khan, the spokesperson of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
The debate was about the recent arrest of Shehbaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and the president of PML-N, by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on corruption charges. The discussion soon turned into a heated argument between Chaudhry and Khan, who belongs to the ruling party and the opposition party, respectively.
The situation escalated when Chaudhry accused Khan of being involved in a land scam and called him a “thief”. Khan retaliated by calling Chaudhry a “liar” and a “fraud”. The two then got up from their seats and started to push and slap each other while the host and the other guests tried to intervene and calm them down.
The video of the scuffle has been widely shared on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, where it has received thousands of views, comments, and reactions. Many users have expressed their shock and dismay at the behavior of the politicians and questioned their credibility and maturity. Some have also criticized the host and the channel for failing to control the situation and allowing such violence to occur on live TV.
This is not the first time that Pakistani politicians have resorted to physical violence during TV debates. In 2019, another brawl broke out between two lawmakers from PPP and PML-N on a show on ARY News. In 2018, a similar incident occurred between two members of PTI and PML-N on a show on Samaa TV. These incidents reflect the growing intolerance and polarization among the political parties in Pakistan, which often resort to personal attacks and accusations instead of engaging in constructive dialogue and debate.