Afghan diplomat Zakia Wardak resigns amid allegations of smuggling 25kg gold
Zakia Wardak, Afghanistan’s diplomat and consul in Mumbai, India, resigned from her position after being detained on charges of smuggling 25 kg of gold at the city’s airport.
Ms. Wardak announced her resignation amid reports from Indian media outlets on Saturday, May 4th, about her detention at Mumbai airport on charges of smuggling 25 kg of gold hidden in her clothes from Dubai.
In her resignation letter, released following these reports, Zakia Wardak stated that she and her family had faced personal and organized attacks over the past year.
She further stated, “I am deeply sorry that as the only woman present in Afghanistan’s diplomatic apparatus, instead of receiving constructive support to maintain this position, I faced waves of organized attacks aimed at destroying me.”
Indian media reported that on April 25, Ms. Wardak attempted to smuggle 25 bricks of gold, each weighing one kilogram, in a custom-made outfit from Dubai to India.
According to the reports, this senior Afghan diplomat has not been arrested due to diplomatic immunity, but her case has been registered as a “smuggling case.”
Under Indian laws, if the value of smuggled gold exceeds one billion Indian rupees, the suspected individual is detained even if they have diplomatic immunity.
Zakia Wardak, along with Mohammad Ibrahim Khil, another Afghan consul in India, also control the Afghan embassy in Delhi in collaboration with the Taliban government.
She was appointed consul of Afghanistan in Mumbai during the Ashraf Ghani government and was the first Afghan woman diplomat to collaborate with the Taliban, which faced severe criticism from Afghan citizens at that time.
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