Live TV feed cuts abruptly during Ahsan Iqbal interview

A live television interview with federal minister for planning Ahsan Iqbal was briefly interrupted on Thursday when his video feed appeared to be interrupted after an off-camera voice was heard saying, “shut this down” (“band karo isay”).

When Iqbal returned to the air shortly after, the host told viewers that many had been alarmed by the sudden disruption and asked if everything was okay. The minister assured viewers that “all is well”.

Iqbal said there was no problem, after which the host said he would not press the matter further and resumed the discussion, noting that there were only “eight to ten minutes” of the program left.

Later, the minister issued a clarification on X, thanking people for their concern and saying a “brief interruption occurred during a live broadcast when someone nearby who was having an argument didn’t realize I was live on air”. He said he joined the interview soon after and urged people to avoid “unnecessary politicization” of the incident.”

The clip of the outage circulated widely on social media, fueling speculation about the reason for the outage.

In a post on X, a journalist later said he had spoken to Iqbal, who explained that a family gathering was underway at his residence in Islamabad when children unexpectedly entered his studio, causing the disturbance. He said the minister rejoined the program shortly after and the host could confirm the account.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar also said he had spoken to Iqbal and confirmed that “children entered the investigation unexpectedly”, adding that the minister rejoined the show and that “everything is good”.