What is Oxford Union and how does it work? The failure of the debate which brought it back into the limelight. explainer news

Last updated:December 02, 2025, 10:23 IST

The controversy has put union president Musa Harraj under scrutiny, with senior lawyer J Sai Deepak alleging mismanagement and Pakistan insisting that India back out.

but a big uproar has arisen oxford union A high-profile debate on India’s Pakistan policy failed just hours before it was to begin. The event ended amid confusion over who had actually withdrawn, why vital information was withheld, and how the union’s own president handled the entire process. What should have been a structured debate turned into a public feud, with both sides accusing the other of backbiting.

The fiasco has now put the Oxford Union itself at the center of scrutiny, raising fundamental questions about what the institution is, how it works and who leads it.

What is Oxford Union?

The Oxford Union is the long-standing debating society of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it has been described as a “centuries-old” forum and is widely associated with high-profile debates that have attracted political leaders, public thinkers and prominent figures from around the world for more than two centuries.

Its motto is ‘Non sibi sed toti’Which translates to “not for one, but for all”. The Union’s debates, resolutions and votes are closely monitored, and its chamber is known as a major forum where political and international arguments are broadcast.

The union describes itself as a society whose membership is open to students, staff and alumni of the university. Its website states that in the early nineteenth century Oxford banned students from discussing it in public. In response, 25 students met in late 1822 to create rules for an independent debating society, resulting in the formation of the United Debating Society in March 1823. Its first debate examined whether the English Civil War arose from the conduct of Charles I or the broader democratic impulse of the time.

As membership grew, the university became increasingly rejected by society, and interruptions and the uneven quality of debate created difficulties. The United Debating Society was dissolved in 1825 but two days later it was revived as the Oxford Union Society, which has continued ever since. Women were admitted in 1963 and in 2022 the association held debates with only female speakers.

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The association organizes formal debates in which invited speakers argue for and against a pre-determined proposal.

The debate begins with the first speaker introducing the motion, who introduces the participants and presents the opening arguments. After this the first speaker of the opposition replies and opens the case against the motion. Each side usually has three to four speakers, who present their arguments in turn.

The final result is decided by members exiting the chamber through a door marked “Yes” or “No”, a process based on the House of Commons. During a discussion, speakers may be faced with points of information, which they can choose to take or reject.

Audience members can also give short speeches when the debate begins in the House. An example that is often remembered is Shashi Tharoor’s 2015 speech on Britain’s colonial legacy, which became one of the most watched State of the Union speeches.

According to the Oxford Union’s website, their debates are held every Thursday evening during term time.

Notable speakers at the debate over the years have included US Presidents Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, civil rights leader Malcolm X, Nobel Peace Prize laureates the Dalai Lama and Mother Teresa, and scientists Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.

Who is the President of Oxford Union?

Moses Harraj is the current President of the Oxford Union for Michaelmas Term 2025. According to Pakistani news channel, he is the son of Pakistan’s Defense Production Minister Muhammad Raza Hayat Hiraj and comes from an influential family of Khanewal region of Punjab. geo newsAfter studying at Aitchison College, Lahore, completing his secondary education at Charterhouse School in Surrey, and doing graduate work at the London School of Economics and Harvard University, Harraj joined Oxford for an MPhil in Economics at Balliol College in 2023,

He is the fourth Pakistani and first Pakistani-origin President from Punjab to hold the post after Benazir Bhutto, Ahmed Nawaz and Israr Khan. His entire team, running on the Bridge slate, secured all key officer roles in a single election, with Raza Nazar elected as Treasurer (also a Pakistani), Katherine Yang as Librarian, and Jennifer Yang as Secretary.

What was the point of the debate and how did it end?

Oxford Union on July 7, 2025 senior lawyer J. SAI Deepak invited to speak against the motion “The House believes that India’s response to Pakistan is a populist strategy sold as security policy”.

He confirmed his participation on 30 July, and the union accepted it on 4 October. He was informed that the other Indian speakers would be former Army Chief General MM Naravane (retd) and former Union Minister Subramanian Swamy.

Two days before the debate, the union told him that both Naravane and Swamy would not be able to participate due to unavoidable commitments, and asked him to suggest replacements. Before he could respond, he was told that the Sangh had contacted entrepreneur and columnist Suhail Seth and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and both had confirmed.

On 26 November, he was informed that neither Seth nor Chaturvedi would be available due to short notice, and the association again asked him to recommend UK-based speakers. Jammu and Kashmir activist Manu Khajuria and religious scholar Pandit Satish K Sharma agreed to come forward and Deepak flew to London on the morning of 27 November to prepare with them.

Deepak said that the union had told him that the Pakistani speakers would be Hina Rabbani Khar and Khawaja Muhammad Asif. At 3.13 pm on 27 November, he received a call from the union that the Pakistani side “has not even landed in London”. Deepak wrote that he was unhappy with the “poor handling of the event”. When he was told that the Pakistani team had not arrived he decided not to travel to Oxford.

At 4.11 pm, he emailed union president Musa Harraj and expressed his displeasure. At 4.55 pm, Harraj called him and apologized and told that he had received a call at 10 am that the Pakistani delegation would not come.

Deepak later wrote that the Pakistani delegation had in fact already reached Oxford and was staying at the George Street Hotel, which had also been booked for their stay. He wrote that the Indian team was offered a debate against the students instead of the original Pakistani line-up, which they declined.

The Pakistan High Commission then publicly claimed that the Indian speakers had backed out and had been given a walkover.

However, Deepak said that the Pakistani team had “left the battlefield even before the fighting began” and that the union under Harraj had allowed itself to become a “concubine mouthpiece” of the Pakistani High Commission.

Why is this not the first time that concerns have been raised?

The controversy did not emerge alone. Previous debates in the Union involving Pakistan or Kashmir have already been criticized for their choice of speaker and outline. At an earlier event on Kashmiri independence, some of the speakers had family or organizational links with banned terrorist groups. There have also been debates that have sought to downplay or deny the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus in the 1990s, presenting Pakistan-backed separatism as a human rights issue without acknowledging the violence that fueled the migration.

The handling of these incidents has raised questions about whether the Sangh’s platform has been used to push one-sided narratives under the guise of open debate. The latest episode has refreshed those concerns.

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