Anil Giri

After she landed in controversy time and again, the UCPN (Maoist) on Friday finally instructed Nepali Ambassador to Qatar Maya Kumari Sharma to put in her papers immediately.

Sharma, who was appointed ambassador from the Maoist quota in February 2012, was an official at the Agricultural Development Bank and did not have any diplomatic and political experience prior to her appointment.

The Maoist decision came after the Kathmandu-based Qatari Ambassador, Ahmad Jasim Mohammed Ali Al Hamar, met senior Foreign Ministry officials and complained about Sharma’s diplomatic conduct.

 A meeting of UCPN (Maoist) leaders on Friday decided to recall Sharma and authorised party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal to take steps in this regard, according to senior Maoist leader Narayan Kaji Shrestha. Sharma is only the third female ambassador after Bindeshowari Shah and Guna Lazmi Bishowakarma.

The Maoist decision is, however, yet to be communicated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the official channel that will recall her. “We will immediately write to her and ask her to return if the party officially communicates its decision to us,” a ministry official said.

Dahal spoke to Sharma after the decision and told her that her staying put in Qatar would further spoil the party’s image.

Several complaints have been filed in Kathmandu against Sharma. She once termed Qatar as an ‘open jail’ in an interview in the BBC’s Sajha Sawal programme.

Later, she had asked one Nepali national to leave Qatar for writing an article against her ‘unprofessional’ working style.

The Nepali community in Qatar has been mounting pressure on the government to recall Sharma, saying that her conduct has tarnished Nepal’s image in the Gulf country. In his meeting with government officials, Qatari Ambassador Hamar urged the Nepali side to take immediate steps to recall Sharma and prevent the bilateral relationship between the two countries from deteriorating further.

Hamar told the officials that Sharma lacked ‘diplomatic knowledge,’ proper conduct and etiquette.  This is probably the first time that a foreign ambassador has officially protested against any Nepali ambassador for his/her diplomatic conduct.

Published on: 21 September 2013 | The Kathmandu Post