Goof-up: Pak diplomats discussing minister’s Twitter spat forget to turn off mike during Moscow talks

A Twitter spat between Pakistan’s human rights minister and her daughter had its echoes during the Moscow consultations on Afghanistan, when Pakistan's special envoy on Afghanistan and other officials were found discussing about the tiff, which was heard by scores of others as the diplomats forgot to switch off their mikes.

“Shuru se inka style yehi hai, aggressive (This has been her style all along, aggressive),” Pakistani diplomat Mohammad Sadiq was purportedly heard saying in Urdu. 

The row between Pakistan’s human rights minister Shireen Mazar and her daughter Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir, a lawyer by profession, has taken the Islamic nation by storm. The argument centred around whether the government’s alleged “use of magic” to run the state's affairs should be part of public discourse.

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Imaan was reiterating an allegation that is being pushed forward by the government's critics that Prime Minister Imran Khan relies on witchcraft and divination to make key decisions regarding the affairs of the state.

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The jibe was perceived by many, including her mother, to be targeting the prime minister's spouse, who was a spiritual person before her marriage to Imran Khan.

“The country has been made a mockery of with (the use of) witchcraft — how can it be that we do not talk about those who practice it,” Imaan had said in her tweet.

In response, Shireen said, “I am ashamed you would resort to such low, personalised, unsubstantiated attacks — especially since as a lawyer you should know (that) without any proof hurling such accusations is defamation.”

What followed was a flurry of tweets in reply to the exchange.

(With inputs from agencies)