No-qurbani order at Kolkata consulate will get envoy punished by Yunus govt

The interim authorities of Muhammad Yunus has punished its senior diplomat, Shabab Bin Ahmed, by cancelling his appointment to the Kolkata Consulate after he issued directives banning the “sacrifice (qurbani) of cows and goats” on the premises throughout Eid al-Adha or Bakrid, reported Dhaka-based newspaper Prothom Alo.

The order triggered an issue, following which Ahmed was on Thursday directed by Bangladesh’s Foreign Office to report again to Dhaka instantly.

Ahmed, who was scheduled to take cost as Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commissioner on the Kolkata Consulate in the first week of June — coinciding with the competition of Eid al-Adha — had issued a directive to cease the follow of animal sacrifice even earlier than assuming workplace. He directed officers on the Kolkata mission to provoke measures to halt animal sacrifice. Despite the employees on the consulate reportedly cautioning him concerning the sensitivity of the matter, he selected to ignore their issues, mentioned the report.

“We, as diplomats, serve our nation. We should think about the native surroundings and the context the place we’re posted… We ought to respect the customs of the host nation. It is important for diplomats to earn the belief of the host nation,” Shabab Bin Ahmed earlier mentioned, defending his qurbani-ban directive.

Local Bangladeshi information shops quoted the diplomat as saying that no different Bangladeshi mission outdoors Kolkata observes qurbani on Bakrid, and that it causes sanitation points within the neighborhood.

Ahmed was posted on the Bangladesh Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands, and was assigned to take over as the Deputy High Commissioner in Kolkata Counsulate on November 21, 2024, months after the regime of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina was toppled by pupil protests, hijacked by Islamists in August 2024.

Notably, the custom of animal sacrifice on the Bangladesh Consulate in Kolkata has been noticed for over 30 years, in accordance with Prothom Alo. Each yr, a number of cows and goats are sacrificed, with a good portion of the meat distributed inside the area people, in accordance with reviews.

Shabab Bin Ahmed’s directive to ban qurbani reportedly triggered discontent among the many mission employees, with nobody supporting his stance.

Bangladeshi information shops mentioned that the Deputy High Commissioner’s determination to discontinue a longstanding follow even earlier than taking cost formally created discontent among the many Consulate’s employees.

The determination to direct the diplomat to Dhaka comes whilst ties between Bangladesh and India stay frosty after the autumn of the Sheikh Hasina regime and the Yunus-led interim authorities releasing terrorists and never reigning in Islamist radicals who’re amplifying anti-India narratives.