Indian young diplomat Sneha Dubey, (IFS) officer of 2012 batch, who completed her schooling from Goa, gave a blistering retort to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran khan, after he raked up the issue of Kashmir and blamed India for Islamophobia in his address to the UN General Assembly. Sneha called ‘’ an arsonist disguising itself as a firefighter.
Sneha Dubey is the first secretary of India to the United Nations Assembly, she also serve as India’s third Secretary at the embassy of India in Madrid since 2014 and also worked as Under Secretary (T) Latin America and the Caribbean at India’s Ministry of External Affairs since 2013 to 2014.
She started her journey from Manovikas School at Margao, where she studied for a few years before moving to Pune the school former principal, Srabonee Thakar, remembers her as a soft-spoken girl but firm which she praised her for her quickly adoption to the school as she joined the school late.
“She had clarity of thought right from a young age, and you could tell she was well-read and well informed. We couldn’t be prouder of her,” she said to Times of India.
From those school days, she nurtured a dream of becoming an IFS officer and representing her country in the world, the Manovikas’ founder-director Therese Almeida, paint a clear picture of her diplomatic characteristics in school days.
‘’Dubey was a confident girl who had a lot of friends. She was outstanding in everything she did and was very popular. I recall her being very communicative with everybody,” she added to TOI.
She cleared the civil services examination in her first attempt in 2011. Dubey is an avid traveller and looks at her position at IFS, as a great opportunity to represent her beloved country. She is the first person in her family to be working as a government servant; her father works in a multinational company, while her mother is a school teacher.
In her response to Imran Khan’s speech in UNGA on Sep 25, 2021, after Imran Khan blamed India for Islamophobia, and brought the Kashmir issue into the spotlight, she said that the Pakistan is a root of terrorism and it nurtures them in their backyard.
“This is the country that is an arsonist disguising itself as a firefighter. Pakistan nurtures terrorists in their backyard in the hope that they will only harm their neighbours. Our region and the entire world, has suffered because of their policies. On the other hand, they are trying to cover up sectarian violence in their country as an act of terrorism” said Sneha Dubey
Dubey said it is regrettable that this is not the first time the leader of Pakistan has “misused” platforms provided by the UN to “propagate false and malicious propaganda against my country, and seeking in vain to divert the world’s attention from the sad state of his country where terrorists enjoy free pass while the lives of ordinary people, especially those belonging to the minority communities, are turned upside down.”
Drawing a parallel between India and Pakistan, she said that India is a pluralistic democracy with a substantial population of minorities who have gone on to hold the highest offices in the country including as President, Prime Minister, Chief Justices, and Chiefs of the Army Staff.
She further reiterated that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were, are, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. ‘’This includes the areas that are under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. We call upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation,” said Dubey
As soon as her fiery response at the United Nations appeared on social media, it went viral with many users hailing Dubey for her befitting reply. She became the voice of Indian people especially the youth. Here in Goa also one of her school friends, Danika Lobo, said that Dubey has turned into a role model par excellence.
“We are proud of the stand she took and the way she put forth India’s sentiments so eloquently. She is representing India at the highest level and is an epitome of passion and inspiration, which is wonderful,” Lobo said to TOI.
The school founder-director also praised her for her fiery response. ‘All the publicity she has received is well deserved. It’s not just about having a good position. We are proud to see her do something more and help create a better world. Sneha is working for the country and is in the public eye, and we are delighted. We were taken up with her forceful speech,” Therese Almeida said.
After completing her education in Goa, Dubey shifted to Pune, she graduated from Fergusson College there, and has done MA and MPhil from JNU.
