Diplomat's dilemma
Ismat Jahan
Hasanuzzaman Khan
Bangladesh permanent representative to UN Ismat Jahan is learnt to have expressed her desire to marry a Dutch national presently staying in New York. She has communicated her desire to the foreign ministry in Dhaka and sought permission. But as per foreign service rules a diplomat is not allowed to marry a foreigner as there is a risk of state secret being leaked out.
The Foreign Ministry is yet to give permission to her to marry the foreign national.
Earlier, Anwarul Karim Choudhury, a permanent representative to UN, married a Nepali woman when he was posted in Kathmandu as Ambassador. The Nepali woman had issues from her previous wedlock. During the Liberation War Anwarul Karim Choudhury defected to Bangladesh foreign service severing his allegiance to the then Pakistan government. No breach of rules in his service with the foreign ministry was recorded and he maintained service continuity.
Wazed Ali Khan, Bangladesh High Commissioner to Malaysia, married a Pakistani woman violating the service rules. But he had to quit the job of High Commissioner to pay the price of his affair with a foreign woman.
Ismat Jahan, who is in her 50s, is learnt to be determined to marry her foreign
fiancé even risking her job in the Foreign Service. It was not known what prompted Ismat Jahan to break her long-drawn celibacy after elopement with a foreign national.
Ismat Jahan is a sister-in-law of former foreign secretary Hemayetuddin. Her elevation to the top diplomatic job in the UN gave rise to many questions as she was junior to many in the foreign service. It was yet to be seen whether she will give up her position in the foreign ministry for the sake of her love.
It may be mentioned that Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Bangladesh representative to UN office in Geneva, has a Russian wife. It does not become a bar for him to have a job in the foreign ministry.
Dr Hamidur Rashid and Anisul Haque, two foreign office directors, have foreign wives. They were given permission by the Foreign Ministry to marry foreign women although the service encadrement rules do not permit diplomats to marry foreign women. The national security is likely to be endangered if a person having high state responsibility is allowed to marry a foreign citizen.
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