The government is yet to take any action against First Secretary of Jeddah Consulate Md Jamal Uddin who allegedly assaulted Assistant Foreign Secretary Tanvir Kabir at Jeddah hajj camp office on July 1.
“He [Jamal] is still performing his duty as first secretary as we are yet to get any instruction from the headquarters,” Jeddah Consul General Nazmul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune over phone Wednesday.
“We have sent reports to Dhaka and so far as we know, no independent inquiry committee has been formed to investigate the incident,” he said.
A deputy director of the National Security Intelligence (NSI), Jamal Uddin joined the Jeddah Consulate, his first diplomatic assignment, on May 4.
Giving his observation in one of his reports that Jamal had lost “all his credibility to continue to work in a diplomatic mission,” the consul general also asked the headquarters to recall Jamal to maintain discipline and smooth functioning of the Jeddah Consulate.
In his initial report dated July 1, Nazmul said: “At around 1:30pm [on July 1], Mr Tanvir Kabir came to my office and informed that he was assaulted by Mr Jamal Uddin, first secretary (visa), and some other members of the NSI.”
He immediately talked to foreign ministry officials Mozammel Haque and Jobayed Hosen for verification, and they supported the verbal statement of Tanvir.
Consul General Nazmul also discussed the issue with Jamal Uddin.
“During the discussion, he [Jamal] blamed Mr Tanvir Kabir for the incident while admitting his failure to control his emotion because of continuous workload since his joining,” the report said.
In another report dated July 4, the consul general said he had talked to sub-inspectors Saidur Rahman and Mohammad Maskoat of Jeddah Consulate who had witnessed the incident. “It also appeared from their verbal statements that Mr Md Jamal Uddin…had started the incident.
“The ugly part of the incident was that the two members of the NSI team named Mr Md Mohsinuzzaman, field officer, [and] Mr Shahiduzzaman, UD Assistant, also took part in the incident in support of Mr Jamal Uddin,” said the report.
In the elaborate report, Nazmul said the incident had taken place in an open place where a good number of officials from different ministries, including the cabinet division, were present.
“I found him [Jamal] hard working but his approach is very much aggressive and temperamental…He does not know how to control a situation with cool head,” the report said.
The consul general said Jamal had also physically assaulted a 60-year-old service-seeker on grounds of entering his room without permission “in front of hundreds of visitors and community volunteers” just before the incident between him and Tanvir took place.
“Considering the gravity of his mistakes, he has lost all his credibility to continue to work in a diplomatic mission,” the report said.
