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

India Today

23-05-2025

The interim government 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 during Eid al-Adha or Bakrid, reported Dhaka-based newspaper Prothom Alo.The order triggered a controversy, following which Ahmed was on Thursday directed by Bangladesh's Foreign Office to report back to Dhaka immediately.advertisementAhmed, who was scheduled to take charge as Bangladesh's Deputy High Commissioner at the Kolkata Consulate in the first week of June -- coinciding with the festival of Eid al-Adha -- had issued a directive to stop the practice of animal sacrifice even before assuming office. He directed officials at the Kolkata mission to initiate measures to halt animal sacrifice. Despite the staff at the consulate reportedly cautioning him about the sensitivity of the matter, he chose to disregard their concerns, said the report.
"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," Shabab Bin Ahmed earlier said, defending his qurbani-ban directive.advertisementLocal Bangladeshi news outlets quoted the diplomat as saying that no other Bangladeshi mission outside Kolkata observes qurbani on Bakrid, and that it causes sanitation issues in the vicinity.Ahmed was posted at 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 student protests, hijacked by Islamists in August 2024.Notably, the tradition of animal sacrifice at the Bangladesh Consulate in Kolkata has been observed for over 30 years, according to Prothom Alo. Each year, several cows and goats are sacrificed, with a significant portion of the meat distributed within the local community, according to reports.Shabab Bin Ahmed's directive to ban qurbani reportedly triggered discontent among the mission staff, with no one supporting his stance.Bangladeshi news outlets said that the Deputy High Commissioner's decision to discontinue a longstanding practice even before taking charge officially created discontent among the Consulate's staff.The decision to direct the diplomat to Dhaka comes even as ties between Bangladesh and India remain frosty after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime and the Yunus-led interim government releasing terrorists and not reigning in Islamist radicals who are amplifying anti-India narratives.Must Watch