Net rumour about Big Dick
By Pulkit Sharma

How easily do internet rumours start and take lives of their own! Especially, if they have a little help from powerful mainstream media blogs.

American magazine Foreign Policy is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the political and economic relationships between countries.  It columnists often predict how sensitive political situations will play out.  President Obama’s chief strategist was quoted as saying: “The most extraordinary thing about him is how normal he (President Obama) is....he will read Foreign Policy, a treatise on economics and Sports Illustrated.".  Foreign Policy is distributed in elite political and economic forums like Davos, Switzerland.

This rumour started on the internet after the Foreign Policy blog published the following post on Feb 3, 2010

“
Pakistani ambassador rejected because his name is NSFW in Arabic
Posted By David Kenner

Despite having served for years as a distinguished Pakistani diplomat, Akbar Zeb reportedly cannot receive accreditation as Pakistan's ambassador to Saudi Arabia. The reason, apparently, has nothing to do with his credentials, and everything to do with his name -- which, in Arabic, translates to "biggest dick":

In Saudi Arabia, size does count. Saudi officials, apparently overwhelmed by the idea of the name, put their foot down and gave the idea of his being posted there the kibosh.

According to this Arabic-language article in the Arab Times, Pakistan had previously floated Zeb's name as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, only to have him rejected for the same reason. One can only assume that submitting Zeb's name to a number of Arabic-speaking countries is some unique form of punishment designed by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry -- or the result of a particularly egregious cockup.
“

In response to this article, Jonnicolucci wrote to the Foreign Policy: “Pakistanis are wrong to send him to Saudi Arabia or Bahrain Considering the name's meaning, Pakistan should post him to India. Pakistanis could laugh and the Indians won't even get the joke.”

Ha. Ha. More such tongue in cheek comments. More forwarding article via email.

Soon, the Foreign Policy blog post was picked up by Gawker which arguably the most powerful blog group in USA.

Ha. Ha.  More laughter and jokes about the Pakistani diplomat.

Finally,  the Pakistani Government decided to stop this internet rumour.  On Feb 11 (India time),  their High Commission in Canada wrote to Foreign Policy clarifying that the Pakistani diplomat has been Ambassador to Canada for the last 9 months and that he was never selected for Saudi Arabia or any other country.

Despite the Pakistani High Commission in Canada issuing a clarification on Feb 11,  no one removed the original article or published a prominent disclaimer.  Once a rumour starts on the internet,  it is hard to stop it quickly.