Bangladesh: Pakistan High Commissioner flees country after his ‘scandalous activities’ bring shame to Islamabad

Dhaka: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Syed Ahmed Maroof’s sudden leave and disappearance from the country has set rumour mills abuzz, not only on social media but also in political and diplomatic circles from Dhaka to Islamabad.

Citing sources in the Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, local media reported that Maroof has proceeded on an indefinite leave since May 11 and is currently outside the country. It was revealed that Maroof did not get any protocol nor any formalities as he cautiously left Dhaka for Pakistan on May 11 via Dubai on an Emirates flight.

Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner in Dhaka, Muhammad Asif, is serving as the Acting High Commissioner in the absence of Syed Ahmed Maruf. Normally, the Deputy High Commissioner takes over in the absence of an officer in such a position.

Several social media posts indicated that Maroof, who began his diplomatic duties in the country in December 2023, was recalled because of his involvement in a scandal involving a woman at a hotel in Cox’s Bazar.

“Ahmed Maroof was involved with one Hafiza Haque Shah, a senior official working with a Bangladeshi bank. Officials at the Pakistan Embassy also knew about this as she used to visit him regularly. But during Maroof’s latest visit to Cox’s Bazar, the issue of their immoral relationship came to the fore more prominently and the scandal became too conspicuous to suppress. That is why Pakistan has been forced to take back their important asset,” an official stated on the condition of anonymity.

Social media is abuzz about Maroof’s scandalous activities with Shah. Inputs confirmed that, faced with a potential diplomatic embarrassment, Pakistan had no choice but to withdraw one of its key operatives from the Bangladeshi soil.

According to the available details, Maroof had left Dhaka on May 8 for Cox’s Bazar and was scheduled to return on May 10. This was his second visit to Cox’s Bazar in three months.

Earlier, Maroof had visited Cox’s Bazar on February 6-7 for a vacation with his wife. During this time, he also held a long meeting with a team of Rohingyas – Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) in the presence of Jamaat Amir Shafiqur Rahman. These two groups are under international scrutiny for their links to extremism.

On February 8, for the first time in 16 years, a party workers’ conference was held in Cox’s Bazar in the presence of the Jamaat Ameer. The conference was organised by the Cox’s Bazar district branch of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

Sources further stated that in the last nine months, Maroof had been criss-crossing the nation, convening meetings, engaging with fringe groups in the volatile political environment of Muhammad Yunus’s Bangladesh and shaping a network designed to reassert Pakistani influence through soft power and ideological infiltration.

Interestingly, this would be the third recall of Pakistani diplomats from Bangladesh.

It may be mentioned that in January 2015, Mazhar Khan, a Pakistani official working at the Dhaka mission was expelled after Bangladesh intelligence accused him of funding Islamist radicals and peddling fake currency.

In December 2015, Pakistan had recalled Farina Arshad, one of its junior diplomats from Dhaka, after allegations of financing terrorist activities in Bangladesh. According to Bangladeshi media reports, Second Secretary (political) Farina developed alleged links with Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operative Idris Sheikh.

The Pakistani High Commission in Dhaka is known for shady dealings, funding Islamist radicals and peddling fake currency.

IANS