The recently recalled Bangladesh ambassador to Qatar, Syed Masud Mahmood Khundoker, has reportedly paid the price of conflicts among Awami League leaders in Doha.
Several leaders from the Awami League’s Qatar unit claimed that the decision to recall the ambassador was an injustice to him despite having many achievements in his diplomatic role there.
In a rare incident, the Prime Minister’s Office in a written directive asked the Foreign Ministry in the first week of this month to recall the Bangladesh envoy.
The ambassador earned the wrath of the Qatari Sainik League leader when he did not give in to some of the leader’s unjust demands, claimed Shafiqul Islam Talukder Babu, senior vice-president of Awami League’s Qatar unit.
Babu said the Sainik League leader had demanded that he be engaged in the embassy’s dealings with the community there instead of the AL unit leadership.
Bangladesh missions generally engage the units of the mainstream political parties for such activities.
When asked why the ambassador was recalled at the instructions of the PMO, a senior official of the Foreign Ministry told the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity: “We have our limitations.”
The top leadership from the ruling party’s Qatar unit recently travelled all the way to Dhaka from Doha to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to express their disagreement over the decision.
“We had a meeting with the prime minister to explain the situation in Doha,” Babu told the Dhaka Tribune.
Qatar unit President Omar Faruque Chowdhury and Qatar’s Bangabandhu Parishad Senior Vice-President SM Faridul Haque were with Babu during the meeting on Wednesday.
“The ambassador has tried to maintain unity in the Bangladeshi community [in Doha] but the Awami League leader wanted to create a division in it,” said Babu, who is also the founder of Jubo League in Qatar.
In what is apparently a rare feat, the diplomatic skills of the ambassador was also recently acknowledged by Qatar’s Labour Minister Abdullah Saleh Mubarak Al-Khulaifi.
“We had a dinner on March 26 to celebrate the Independence Day at a seven-star hotel where the Qatari labour minister was present. This has been the first time in my 22 years in Doha that I saw any Qatari labour minister having dinner with Bangladesh community,” Babu said.
“The Qatari minister told us: ‘This is the first time you have a true Bangladesh excellency. He can win the heart of all. I am going to allow another 50,000 Bangladeshi workers because of him.’”
Qatar accepted about 90,000 workers in 2014 and another 25,000 went to Doha in the first three months of this year.
Babu, who was engaged in politics with Awami League Publicity Secretary Hasan Mahmud during his university years, said they came to Dhaka at their own expenses to explain the issue to the top leadership.
Babu and SM Faridul Haque also had a meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam on Thursday.
“We met the state minister and he assured us that he would look into the issue,” Babu said.
The Awami League leader said they did not have any problem about the government’s decision to recall Masud as it is a routine matter that ambassadors would come and go, but not in this manner.
“It will be an unjust decision.”
