WATCH: Karachi LB oathtaking turns into bilingual babble amid language confusion

An unusual situation arose during the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected local government (LG) representatives as North Nazimabad Assistant Commissioner Hazim Bangwar administered oath in English, leaving the newly elected representatives clueless.

The new local body (LB) representatives, union councils' chairmen and vice-chairmen who were elected in the recent local government polls in Karachi, took oaths on Monday.

Among those taking the oath was Jamat-e-Islami's (JI) Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, who intercepted Bangwar while administering the oath when he noticed his fellow representatives' confusion over the oath's words in English language.

The two reportedly engaged in an argument, with Naeem urging to administer oath in Urdu. However, Bangwar administered oath in English saying that there were options of Urdu, Sindhi and English languages. 

Bangwar, a provincial management services (PMS) officer — who currently serves as an assistant commissioner for North Nazimabad area of Karachi — is a singer and songwriter, who rose to prominence due to his vibrant personality and eclectic tastes.

Termed the “cool” assistant commissioner, the 29-year-old is passionate about providing funds for education, environmental and animal welfare and emergency response programmes in Pakistan.

Bangwar has also worked for and supported numerous local and international non-profit organisations, such as WWF, SOS, Oceana, Amnesty International, Dar Ul Sakoon, Project Aware, and PETA.

His aim with his foundation, HBF (Hazim Bangwar Foundation), is to ensure that it supports numerous diverse causes.