ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has lodged a strong protest with the Afghanistan interim government by summoning its chargé d’affaires to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the “reprehensible” act of disrespect to the country’s national anthem by Peshawar-based Afghanistan diplomats.

Mawlawi Sardar Ahmad Shakeeb, the Afghan chargé d’Affairs, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs late on Tuesday night and a strong protest was lodged with him over the disrespect of the national anthem by Acting Consul General of Afghanistan along with another Afghanistan consulate official at an event in Peshawar, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch confirmed in response to media queries.

“The disrespect of host country’s national anthem is against diplomatic norms. This act of Acting Consul General of Afghanistan is reprehensible. We are conveying our strong protest to the Afghan authorities both in Islamabad and Kabul,” Baloch said in her initial statement over the Tuesday’s incident.

The Acting Consul General of Afghanistan, Hafiz Mohibullah Shakir, along with another official of the Afghanistan consulate can be seen remaining seated during the national anthem in a viral video from a conference on the eve of Eid-i-Miladun Nabi (PBUH) held in Peshawar on Tuesday, with Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur and other provincial officials also in attendance.

The event was also attended by a large number of elected public representatives, government officials, political and social figures and scholars from all schools of thought.

The two Afghanistan officials remained seated throughout the national anthem while all the participants of conference can be seen standing in respect of the national anthem, which triggered criticism, as Pakistanis on social media platform strongly condemned the Taliban regime’s representatives, calling on the government to expel them.

However, in a statement, Afghanistan Consulate in Peshawar maintained that the Consul General Mohibullah Shakir had no intention to disrespect the Pakistani national anthem but he did not stand up because of the “music of the anthem.” “There was no intention to disrespect or dishonour the Pakistani national anthem,” the statement read, adding: “The Consul general did not stand during the anthem because of the music in it.”

It further stated that the Afghanistan interim government has also banned its own national anthem because of the music. “If this anthem was played without music or performed by children, the Consul General would have stood up and put his hand on his chest as well… There is no question of insulting Pakistan or its national anthem at all,” the Afghan Consulate stated.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024