Salima Hashmi’s handbag stolen in Hamburg

LAHORE: Saleema Hashmi, former principal of the National College of Arts (NCA), got the shock of her life when her handbag was stolen from a restaurant in Hamburg.

“I was having tea at a restaurant and the bag was placed near my feet,” Mrs Hashmi told Daily Times on Wednesday. “It was removed so quietly that I didn’t notice it was missing until much later. It was the most expensive cup of tea I’ve ever had.” The bag contained her passport, ticket, credit cards, 500 euros, jewellery, and £300. A case was immediately registered with the Hamburg police and the Pakistan embassy provided Mrs Hashmi with a new passport within an hour of the robbery.

“After my bag was stolen, I was immediately taken to Berlin where I stayed with former German ambassador to Pakistan, Mr Daerr, and his wife,” she said. Mrs Hashmi was in Germany to visit art academies and interview German art teachers for recruitment to the Beaconhouse National University (BHNU), of which she is the dean. She was a guest of the Goethe Institute.

Mrs Hashmi said that this was not the first time that Pakistanis had been robbed in this manner in Hambur. An official of the Pakistan embassy in Germany told her that he had also been robbed in Hamburg recently. She said that the official also told her about a Pakistani businesswoman working in Hamburg whose briefcase was snatched by a gang of robbers.

Mrs Hasmhmi is to visit the United States of America on August 14 to select books and recruit teachers for BHNU. “I had to reapply for a US visa on my new passport,” she said. shoaib ahmed

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