My list of friends on Facebook is not a long one but that is by choice so to speak. Keeping only the nearest and dearest ones abreast of personal life and vice versa keeps the close-knit circle in special category as one does not want all and sundry to know what was served for lunch, where was it served, how was it and how much was it for, to quote an example.
One regular pleasant greeting on Facebook which often starts my day is posted by my Polish friend, Ambassador Piotr A. Opalinski. Piece de resistance in the post are the eye catching clicks of Margalla Hills, autumn jacaranda leaves, colourful humming birds, fruit carts overflowing with black and green bunches of grapes which work as a booster right before start of the day courtesy a la ambassador Opalinski. However, last week it was not as pleasant as per routine. It was full of farewell dinner pictures hosted by one of his many friends. For the last two years, post Covid-19 mainly, interaction with the diplomatic community has been next to none. Gone are the days of extravagant National Day receptions at Serena and Marriott hotels, Kings and Queens’ birthday extravaganzas in the sprawling manicured gardens of Spanish, British and Japanese ambassadors’ residences and royal Arabic aromatic feasts at Saudi and UAE embassies. It was for this very reason that the surprise news of departure too did not come in-person but through social media.
Ambassador Opalinski’s diplomatic career spans over 30 years but generates quite an interest to the readers when it is dawn that more than 25 years out of the 30-plus years had been spent in the sub-continent, i.e. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan and without counting his six years as a student in Tashkent, now the capital of Uzbekistan.
“I got admission in Tashkent State University, one of the very renowned educational institutes in Tashkent then as a student of Oriental Studies in 1979. Soon after my arrival, in December, Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Interestingly many of my university student friends were Afghan students. It was my very first acquaintance with the history and the people of this region and it was love at first sight. I studied Dari, Pashto, Hindi and Persian history and literature as well as linguistic studies including Russian language and also earned a diploma as a Russian language teacher while being in Tashkent. As a student, my Uzbek teachers were mostly interested in glorifying, their history especially Baburnama as the last Mogul Emperor Zahir ud Din Muhammad hailed from Andijan Province, Fergana Valley located very close to Tashkent. At that time, Uzbekistan was part of Soviet Union and under great suppression so the professors in the universities took great interest in teaching Mogul History and undermining the Soviet history. No doubt the most interesting subject for me was History of the Mogul Empire,” informs the ambassador.
On his return from Tashkent, the young Oriental Studies graduate already had a job offer in hand as a resource person in Polish Embassy in New Delhi, India. It was my first time in India and as a young aspiring Foreign Service career seeker was very enthusiastic to put his academic experience into practice during his one year stint in India. After formally joining the Foreign Services, the councillor was sent packing to Bangladesh as a young diplomat of Foreign Service of Poland. After spending six years in Dacca, he was asked to move to Pakistan as Deputy Head of mission in Islamabad in 1999. “It was a very action-packed posting as the then President General Pervez Musharaf had recently taken over as military ruler of Pakistan and political activities were on the rise. As things were starting to settle down, in came 9/11 and the whole world order took a 180 degree turn. The west’s focus shifted to the South Asia region and in particular on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The polish embassy in Pakistan was accredited to Afghanistan as well and as Deputy Head of Mission, my visits to Kabul became quite frequent. Interestingly, all my university friends in Uzbekistan were now being sent to Afghanistan as soldiers and I always searched to locate them every time I was in Kabul,” he informed.
After serving in Islamabad for six years, Ambassador Opalinski was asked to move to New Delhi as Deputy Head of Mission as the Polish Government needed an experienced hand for the job there. “As I was close to finish my assignment after six years in New Delhi, I got a call from the Director General Foreign Office and he said, “What are your plans and I said I am coming back to Warsa. What would you say if we post you to Pakistan as ambassador and I replied: I will say Alhamdulillah,” Ambassador informed with excitement. After returning to Warsaw, he came to know that there were other candidates in line as well, interested for the same position and two of them were Army Generals and others were his colleagues from Foreign Services but his command and experience in South East Asia or what you may call former Mogul Empire came to his rescue and it was an easy walk.
With more than 30 years of diplomatic career under his belt, Ambassador Opalinski says, “It’s not over yet.” Although he has a few years of service left, his die-hard love for Pakistan is magnetically pulling him back to Islamabad.” I plan to come back to Islamabad. I want to come where I belong and I belong here. “Mein dil say Pakistani hun,” he answers in fluent Urdu ascent.