Pakistani journalists clash at London cafe, abuse each other in viral clip

A heated argument broke out between two Pakistani journalists at a cafe in London. A video of the altercation, which went viral on social media, shows Safina Khan and Asad Malik involved in a shouting match and abusing each other as other people try to calm them down.

The clash occurred on May 3, during an event reportedly organised by Salman Akram Raja, the Secretary General of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and an aide of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The journalists were verbally abusing each other’s family and repeatedly used words like “pig” in the viral clip.

In a tweet, Safina Khan alleged she was harassed and abused by Malik and other Pakistani journalists working for ARY News and Hum News and claimed they 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,” she wrote on social media.

“I reported in past to @AmmadYousaf, @Salman_ARY, @humnewspakistan, but no action was taken. These three reporters will be responsible if anything happens to me,” she said, tagging the three reporters and Metropolitan Police.

However, Asad Khan dismissed the “false and baseless” claims levelled against him by Safina Khan and alleged that she started verbally abusing him and others without any provocation.

“These are false and baseless allegations, consistent with her pattern of past behaviour. The facts are clear and supported by multiple eyewitnesses. During our meal at a restaurant, attended by journalists including Rafique Mughal (Hum TV), Saeed Niazi (GEO), Farid Qureshi (ARY), Naseer Ahmed (Geo), Sahira Khan (Hum TV), others and I, this individual began verbally abusing us without any provocation while sitting at a nearby table,” he wrote on X.

The heated argument laced with abusives has fuelled a debate about media ethics and workplace safety for journalists in politically charged environments.