Afghan Diplomat Wardak Resigns After Smuggling Charge, D-Company Role Not Ruled Out
Afghan Consul General for Mumbai Zakia Wardak, who was also the acting Ambassador of Afghanistan to India, said she had stepped down from the post over ‘personal attacks, defamation’.
New Delhi: The Consul General of Afghanistan Zakia Wardak, who was also currently the Acting Ambassador of Afghanistan to India after the Taliban came to power there in August 2021, Saturday stepped down from the post alleging “personal attacks and defamation”. This came days after she was caught by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the apex anti-smuggling agency under the Ministry of Finance.
Wardak was made the acting Ambassador of Kabul along with the Consul General of Hyderabad Sayed Mohammad Ibrahimkhil in December last year after the former Ambassador of Afghanistan to India Farid Mamundzay announced the shutting down of the Embassy in New Delhi. Both Wardak and Ibrahimkhil reopened the Embassy and made it operational under them even as they reported to the Taliban government in Kabul.
“It is with great regret that I announce my decision to step away from my role at the Consulate and Embassy of Afghanistan in India, effective May 5, 2024. Over the past year, I have encountered numerous personal attacks and defamation not only directed towards me but also towards my close family and extended relatives,” Wardak said in a statement to the press after she was reportedly caught smuggling gold from Dubai to Mumbai last month.
Wardak is believed to be carrying out such activities “on a regular basis and she was checked only after DRI officials got credible information about her and only then she was subjected to a thorough security check” that is not in violation of Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, sources confirmed to ABP LIVE.
Wardak was caught by the DRI last month in the Mumbai airport for “smuggling” gold from Dubai to India. Due to her diplomatic immunity, she was not arrested. Wardak was appointed as the Afghan CG in Mumbai by the former Ashraf Ghani government in Afghanistan which collapsed in August 2021 paving the way for the Taliban to take control of that country once again after they were ousted by American and NATO troops in 2001.
In the press release, Wardak said the “personal attacks” against her were “organised and have severely impacted” her ability to carry out her duties as a diplomat.
“These attacks, which appear to be organized, have severely impacted my ability to effectively operate in my role and have demonstrated the challenges faced by women in Afghan society who strive to modernize and bring positive change amidst ongoing propaganda campaigns,” she said.
She added, “While attacks on me and my character were not altogether surprising, as being in public life is something I had prepared myself for, I was unprepared for the toll it took on those close to me. It is not fair to subject them to such unwarranted and horribly unfair experiences.”
She even pointed at “persistent and coordinated nature of these attacks” that she said were aimed at “defaming” her character that has “surpassed a threshold”.
“It has become increasingly clear that the public narrative is unfairly targeting the only female representative within this system, rather than focusing on constructive assistance and support,” she said.
She also thanked the Indian government for New Delhi’s “unwavering support” during her tenure in the past three years.
D-Company’s Role Suspected
According to the sources, the officials are not ruling out the fact that Wardak might have doing this at the behest of underworld don, 1993 Mumbai blasts mastermind and UN-proscribed terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and his notorious D-Company.
ABP LIVE has reached out to Wardak but has not received any response yet. The article will be updated if a response is received.
The DRI, the sources added, had been “monitoring” Wardak’s travels and activities for over a year now as they believed that she is “part of a nexus” that is into trafficking and smuggling, which the D-company carries out in India till date.
The Afghan Embassy in India came under massive fire last year after reports of infighting, corruption and embezzlement by the former diplomats who were appointed here by the Ghani government.
While the Embassy was operating normally despite the Taliban coming back to power in Kabul, problems began to come to the fore when the then Ambassador Mamundzay left New Delhi for London on a personal visit.
On the other hand, in an effort to resume bilateral ties with Afghanistan, India reopened its Embassy in Kabul, which was shut down on August 16, 2021, even as it began talking to the Taliban regime there.
Wardak and Ibrahimkhil reopened the Embassy in Delhi in December 2023 but under the former tricolour flag of Afghanistan as opposed to the white flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan of the Taliban regime, bearing the 'Shahada'.
In her statement, Wardak did point towards the difficulties faced by women in leadership roles. It needs to be noted here that the Taliban since coming to power has stopped girls and women from receiving formal education by banning them from going to schools and colleges and it has also removed women from the workforce.
“I sincerely hope for a future where women in leadership roles are supported and respected, where opportunities for progress are embraced rather than met with hostility and defamation. My commitment to advocating for positive change remains unwavering despite this decision,” she said.
Diplomatic Immunity and Vienna Convention
While diplomats are covered under the Vienna Convention even as their luggage is not checked while travelling, they are followed only when conducting official duties, said an official who refused to be identified.
Besides, the Vienna Convention also mentions that a particular diplomat has to follow local laws and rules when operating in another country.
Veteran diplomat Rajiv Bhatia told ABP LIVE that the Vienna Convention was formulated at a time when terrorism was not a threat as it is today. Besides, he said, diplomatic immunity does not mean that diplomats are above the law. Security checks at airports is something diplomats undergo everywhere now in the world. Even pat-downs cannot be objected to.”
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