MOFA kills move to make embassies vibrant

Good moves are usually welcome. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), in a bid to keep its supremacy, dumped the national interest by killing a move to make the jobs of non-foreign service cadre diplomats independent of the ministry, official sources said.

The ministries of information, commerce, expatriate welfare and a few others who send their officers to Bangladesh embassies abroad have opted to make their respective wings independent of the MOFA cadre officers after years of complaints.

The behaviour of the foreign office cadres did not change despite alerting the top brasses of the MOFA to the nuisance, the sources said. They have given their reasons for seeking a divorce from MOFA following difficulties and recurrent high-handedness of MOFA officers as well as staff at the missions, a trend that has continued for years, the sources told the Asian Age.

The Ministry of Public Administration formed a committee to study the situation in the embassies in order to boost output. "The committee was supposed to find out the problems of non-MOFA officers and staffs following complaints over the years," one source added.

The ministry officials present on the committee meeting had insisted that the Press Wing, Commercial Wing and a few similar ones must be allowed to work independently, like the Defence Wing.

The Defence Wing operates its own budget and work directly through its headquarters in Dhaka. The MOFA top brass have reasoned that if the wings were given independent status, the functions of the embassies will become disoriented. That is an argument which does not stand water and indeed is aimed at emasculating the work of the Press Wing and other wings at the missions.

 In October, 2017, MOFA circulated confidential emails, some of which have been obtained by The Asian Age, informing its officers that the Executive Committee of BCS (Foreign Affairs) Association met in an emergency meeting with its First Vice President, Ambassador Syed Masud Mahmood Khundoker, in the chair.

The purpose of the meeting was to urgently stop the move to make the other wings independent and one diplomat called it an "evil attempt" by the other ministries to take away the mission heads' absolute dominance of the embassies. A senior diplomat, currently posted abroad, wrote: "Parallel authority given to similar sub-units within the umbrella of an administrative unit only causes defects/duplicity/ confusion and chaos."

"Please note that they will try to move fast and come out with a formal record of proceedings of today's meeting ...," the senior diplomat added in reference to other independence-seeking ministries.

The all-powerful Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali and the equally all-powerful Foreign Secretary Shahidul Huq, who have drawn flak from observers over their mishandling or failures on several issues, including the recent Rohingya exodus into Bangladesh, met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 19 October 2017 as part of their efforts to kill the move in what is seen by those who are serving or have served in various embassies, as an attempt to keep their supremacy alive in the diplomatic missions by sacrificing the national interest. On the same day, another source said, the Ministry of Public Administration, clearly under pressure, decided "NOT to proceed with the matter further."

The MOFA officers ganged up further when another diplomat wrote that similar moves might be made again and must be stopped by "proving ourselves indispensable to the top leadership." 

Some of the officers from different ministries who have served in Bangladesh embassies or high commissions abroad told The Asian Age that they were very disappointed and the Prime Minister should listen to other parties instead of MOFA only.

"I was treated so badly by MOFA officers that I became sick and wanted to go back home," said one non-MOFA cadre officer, who was posted in a Middle Eastern country sometime back. Politically appointed ambassadors also face similar MOFA music, according to information available.

Added eminent journalist and Bangabandhu biographer Syed Badrul Ahsan, who has served as Minister (Press) at the Bangladesh High Commission in London, "MOFA people employed at the missions have always tried, subtly as well as overtly, to be difficult with outsiders without any reason ... it is their attitude of superiority over others that has been a problem.

They only feel intimidated or are careful when assertive non-MOFA individuals are appointed to the missions. In my time, I made sure that no one at the High Commission in London interfered with the work of the Press Wing." He added that often the better performance at the missions has come from non-MOFA diplomats. Those from MOFA, with a few exceptions, have remained elitist, careerist and clannish.

Ahsan said the wings "must be made fully independent for better performance of people like those who want to serve the country abroad with dignity." The Ministry of Information, he said, and other ministries which succumb to MOFA pressure for Foreign Ministry control of wings at present not under them will be taking a suicidal step.

"I would want the Prime Minister to take note of the issue," he said. "If the Ministry of Defence cannot be touched by MOFA, let MOFA desist from interfering with the authority of other ministries vis-a-vis Bangladesh's diplomatic missions abroad."

Myself, also the Minister (Press) in London between May 2015 and September 2017, was told by my first mission head that I had nothing much to do in London and I should take the opportunity to travel in Europe, for which he would facilitate holidays for me. But he had no guidelines for me or any advice. 

The worst was the extreme misbehaviour by the HOC at that time when I joined the mission and despite requests to the high commissioner nothing was done.

I informed the foreign secretary during a visit to Dhaka on the situation. He very generously listened to my complaints and asked me to write to the high commissioner about it, which I did quite hesitantly on my return to London, fearing repercussions that might jeopardise my work.

I was asked not to fax the complaint to anybody in Dhaka and to forget about it. But I had already faxed the letter. The mission chief wanted an amicable settlement when the cat was out of the bag.

That HOC was told to return to Dhaka, but not due to my complaint. Intelligence gave a VERY NEGATIVE report about him. Even then, he was rescued by two diplomats in London and posted to another country, which is reasonably a comfortable destination.

My bureaucrat friends had warned that making the complaint could bring in severe consequences, but I thought someone had to stand up against wrongs and bring about a change.

My friends informed me that complaints against me were piling up as I fought to fulfil my assignments, but I was never told why the MOFA officers were upset. I can only think of one thing - they did not want me to do things I wanted for my country and government, but I pushed through. I was definitely not on HOLIDAY in London and thus I did not travel for 19 months.

I was not told either verbally or by writing what was making them upset. No show cause letter was given to me either, but unfounded complaints were made to the Prime Minister to get me out of London over a period of three months (June-August, 2017). The Prime Minister wanted me to continue in London.

I can say one thing --- that complaints made against me were made-up stories or a problem of their mindset. If true, why was I not confronted the way I did about the HOC?

The Commercial Counsellor and a few others had their share of problems with the same HOC as well as the mission chief. The high commissioner GAVE A BAD ACR report on the lady as he allegedly did not like her for some unknown reasons. Even now there are similar problems.

However, I will not accuse all the MOFA personnel, especially when junior officers, some of whom disagree with some decisions but have to accept the authority of their superior officers.

Thus the independence of the Press Wing, Commercial Wing and other wings must be made independent of MOFA, like the Defence Wing, to ensure dignity and respect for those given such postings.

 The dead plan should be resuscitated immediately to make our embassies more vibrant with an atmosphere of "we are all equals, none is supreme," as MOFA victims urge the relevant ministries.

The writer is Roving Editor,
The Asian Age