Pakistani journalists clash publicly in London; video goes viral
A heated altercation between two Pakistani journalists, Safina Khan and Asad Malik, erupted at a café in London last week, with a video of the incident going viral on social media.
The incident occurred during a press conference of Salman Akram Raja, an aide of Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and secretary general of Pakistan Tehreek-Insaf (PTI).
In the now widely circulated clip, Khan and Malik can be seen hurling verbal abuse at each other, including personal insults and expletives, while onlookers tried to calm the situation.
Safina, a UK-based journalist associated with Pakistan’s NEO News, has alleged that Malik and other Pakistani reporters working for ARY News and Hum News harassed her and “threatened to kill” her.
“During Salman Akram Raja’s coverage, I was harassed and abused by Mohsin Naqvi, TV London reporter Asad Malik and ARY News reporter Farid, and Hum News reporter Rafeeq. They threatened to kill me,” Safina wrote on social media. She further alleged similar threats in the past and claimed previous complaints were ignored by authorities.
Tagging the London police in her posts, Safina said these reporters will be responsible if anything happens to her. She also alleged that supporters of PTI had previously targeted her and even attempted an “acid attack”.
In response, Asad Malik, who works for a UK-based outlet, denied the accusations, calling them “false and baseless”. He accused Safina of starting verbal abuse without any provocation.
“These are consistent with her pattern of past behaviour. The facts are supported by multiple eyewitnesses,” Malik wrote on his social media account.
The footage shows both sides verbally abusing each other’s family. At one point, the word “pig” was being repeatedly used.
Safina defended her actions online, saying, “If a man gets up and abuses me or my mother, I will abuse him twice as much as the women in his house.”
She also claimed that a video clip of the incident, circulated online by a handle named ‘Pakistani,’ was edited and posted by ARY News reporter Farid using a fake account.
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