New Delhi: The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh has cancelled the appointment of its senior diplomat, Shabab Bin Ahmed, to the Kolkata Consulate. The reason: He directed the Consulate staff to ban the “sacrifice (qurbani) of cows and goats” during Eid al-Adha or Bakrid on premise, according to a report by Prothom Alo, a leading newspaper in Dhaka.
After Ahmed issued the order, it resulted in a controversy, and Foreign Office of Bangladesh directed him to immediately report back to Dhaka. Ahmed was supposed to take charge in the first week of June as Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh at the Kolkata Consulate and it would have coincided with the Eid al-Adha. Even before assuming office, he issued a directive banning animal sacrifice and directed officials at the Consulate to start taking steps to stop animal sacrifice. Despite being reportedly cautioned by the consulate staff about the sensitivity of the issue, he disregarded their concerns.
Shabab reportedly said earlier about his directive, “We, as diplomats, serve our country. We must consider the local environment and the context where we are posted. We should respect the customs of the host country. It is essential for diplomats to earn the trust of the host nation.”
According to the news outlets in Bangladesh, Shabab reportedly said that the Kolkata Consulate of Bangladesh is the only one that observes animal sacrifice on Bakrid, and it results in a sanitation issue in the place. Before being assigned to the Kolkata Consulate, Ahmed was at the Bangladesh Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands.
Notably, as per Prothom Alo, the ‘qurbani’ tradition at Kolkata’s Bangladesh Consulate has been observed for more than 30 years. Every year, several cows and goats are reportedly sacrificed, and most of the meat is distributed among the local community. Shabab’s decision angered the mission staff and nobody supported his stance. And it culminated with calling him back to Dhaka, amid frosty ties between India and Bangladesh.
