By Hassan Cheruppa

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — Hamna Mariyam, a young diplomat of 2017 Indian Foreign Service (IFS) batch, will soon join the Indian Consulate General, here as the new consul of Commerce & Press, Information and Culture. She will succeed Moin Akhtar, who left Jeddah on Friday to rejoin the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.

Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Indian Consul General Mohammed Noor Rahman Sheikh said that he was very happy to have the first woman IFS officer joining soon the consulate team at a time when the centuries-old historic economic and socio-cultural ties between India and Saudi Arabia have touched new heights of strategic partnership. The recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Riyadh underscores the strategic significance accorded by the top leaders of both the countries to the growing closeness and cementing ties between Riyadh and New Delhi on multifaceted levels.

Saudi Arabia is India’s 4th largest trade partner with a major source of energy and is the 15th largest market in the world for Indian exports.

“At present, relations between India and KSA are going on so well. In the Kingdom, we have seen so many changes like women empowerment, opening of doors to international tourists with introducing a new visa regime and enhanced frequency in the cultural exchange,” Sheikh said. “It is the very right time to further bolster these relations, especially in the commercial and cultural realms, and as such the appointment of Hamna as the new consul of commerce and culture will assist the consulate in a very large way.”

She is a very good combination of Malayali who married to someone from Hyderabad, as the Keralite and Telengana communities are the major communities in this part of the world. Hamna is married to Abdul Muzammil Khan, an IAS officer of Telangana cadre of the same batch, and son of retired IPS officer A.K. Khan, who is presently an advisor to the Telangana government. “Hamna’s appointment would help in the consulate’s outreach programs and interaction with these communities at a time when the consulate is very actively reaching out to all segments of its vibrant one-million strong community in the western region of Saudi Arabia. She pursued her studies in Delhi’s Ramjas College while I was a student at Hindu College, both are the most prestigious constituent colleges of the Delhi University, and are next to each other in the university campus,” Sheikh added.

Hamna who served at the Indian Embassy in Paris left for India after completion of her French language training on Oct. 31, prior to her joining the Jeddah Consulate. Though daughter of a well-known doctor couple from Calicut in Malabar region of Kerala, Hamna chose a career other than medicine, and studied English language and literature from Ramjas College and obtained her master’s degree in the same discipline from Delhi University. “Learning literature turned my life around and in Delhi University, I had a better exposure to the pluralistic nature of our nation and I learnt to see things in a holistic manner,” she pointed out earlier.

While serving as asst. professor at Farook College, Calicut, she bagged the 28th rank in the Civil Services examination. Fueled by her passion for traveling and fond of forests and mountains, she opted for the Indian Foreign Service. It is interesting to note that she had already traveled all across the Western Ghats and the Himalayas.

Renowned pediatrician Dr. T.P. Ashraf, former superintend of Calicut Medical College and former executive director of Kerala government’s Social Security Mission, is Hamna’s father while Dr. P.V. Jowhara, a physiologist at Calicut Medical College, is her mother.

Meanwhile, Moin Akhtar thanked the Indian community for the unstinted support accorded to him during his tenure in Jeddah. “It was an amazing experience while serving in different capacities as consul in charge of Haj, commerce, community welfare, press, information and culture. It was most gratifying to have the opportunity to intervene in the labor issues of Saudi Oger workers who were left stranded without pay while I was serving as community welfare consul,” he said while addressing a farewell party organized by the Jeddah Indian Media Forum (JIMF).

P. Shamsudheen, president of JIMF, presented a memento to Akhtar at the function in which several members spoke. General Secretary Kabeer Kondotty welcomed the gathering and Treasurer Bijuraj Ramanthali proposed a vote of thanks.