Mian Gul Akbar Zeb is a distinguished diplomat in Pakistan’s foreign service. In the past, he has served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, South Africa and India. Freshly returned to Pakistan after a stint as High Commissioner Designate to Canada, Zeb now cannot find any place that will accept his credentials.
Apparently, Zeb wishes for placement in a Muslim nation, probably an Arabic-speaking one. That is the problem.
Akbar Zeb is not a polite word in Arabic. When I used three different online translators for this article, I twice got the translation for Akbar Zeb as “the biggest cock.” The other translator gave “the biggest inspired by,” which is about the same meaning.
Akbar Zeb has been submitted as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. All three have turned Akbar Zeb away without reason. The theory in the Arabic-language article mentioned above is that the United States does not want Akbar Zeb to have a prominent role in Pakistani foreign relations because of his expertise on economic matters.
International sources, such as Foreign Policy, speculate that the Arabic speaking countries are rejecting Akbar Zeb because of his impolite name.
I do not completely buy that. Although I found some chatter from Arabic speakers about the humorous aspects of his name, the thought that Akbar Zeb is being turned away because of his name is not being discussed prominently in the non-English speaking internet. That probably means that his name is not the reason.
Then again, the Saudis punish women who have been sexually victimized and send terrorists to the equivalent of reform school so I would not put past them the possibility that they might reject the credentials of Pakistan’s “biggest cock” solely on his name.
