Islamabad asks Dhaka to recall diplomat

Mashumi Rahman

Pakistan has asked Bangladesh to bring back its diplomat Maushumi Rahman in retaliation of a Pak diplomat’s expulsion from Dhaka.

The Bangladeshi diplomat, Maushumi Rahman, counsellor (political) of Bangladesh High Commission in Pakistan, has been asked to leave Pakistan by Thursday.

A top government source on Tuesday confirmed this.Pakistan recently withdrew its diplomat Farina Arshad from its high commission stationed in Dhaka following allegations of financing terrorist activities in Bangladesh.

According to sources, Pakistan verbally told Bangladesh to bring back Maushumi Rahman in the same manner that Dhaka informally asked Islamabad to withdraw Farina Arshad.

Foreign ministry sources said Maushumi has been transferred to Portugal and she is likely to join directly in the Bangladesh high commission in Lisbon from Pakistan.

According to diplomatic sources, Bangladesh high commissioner to Pakistan Sohrab Hosain on Tuesday afternoon went to the Pakistan foreign ministry with Maushumi as he was asked by the ministry and met its  foreign ministry director general (South Asia and SAARC) Muhammad Faisal there.

Then, Faisal asked Sohrab to withdraw Maushumi from the Islamabad mission by Thursday.

However, the director general of Pakistan foreign ministry could not explain why they asked Bangladesh to withdraw Maushumi.

Bangladesh in the third week of December informally asked the Pakistan high commission to withdraw its diplomat Farina Arshad and she went back to Pakistan on 23 December.

A day after her withdrawal, Pakistan foreign ministry said in a statement that Farina Arshad was harassed continuously in Bangladesh by it authorities.

It also claimed that Bangladeshi media intentionally and continuously propagated reports against her militancy links. Taking her allegations in cognizance, Islamabad decided to withdraw her from Dhaka.

Pakistan withdrew two of its diplomats in 2015 from Bangladesh.

Mohammad Mazhar Khan was withdrawn from Bangladesh on 31 January, 2015 after intelligence dug out his involvement in terror financing.

Diplomatic friction between Bangladesh and Pakistan has increased in recent times.

After the execution of BNP leader Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed for their war crimes during the 1971 liberation war, Pakistan issued a statement on 22 November, 2015.

Bangladesh strongly protested and summoned Pakistan high commissioner to Bangladesh Shuja Alam, handing over a formal communication on 23 November.

Pakistan in retaliation summoned acting Bangladesh High Commissioner, Maushumi, and protested Bangladesh’s protest on 30 November.