Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan-  Our National Hero

By:  Dr. Maqsood Jafri New York

Some body suggested Field Marshal Ayub Khan, the former president of Pakistan to set a team to work on nuclear proliferation. He laughed it away and said:" by the time we make an atom bomb, it will be on sale in open market." Whether it is a joke or a fact but the fact of the matter is that for Israel, the atom bombs are not even for sale but are free by some Western countries but for the Muslim countries, the making of atom bomb, even as a deterrence is prohibited by these powers. When, in 1972, India succeeded in atomic explosion, she threatened Pakistan to evacuate the territory of Azad Kashmir. India had aggressive designs. In 1971, India had attacked East Pakistan on the false plea of supporting the Bengali rebels and dismembered Pakistan. The same exercise was planned  by India to forcibly annex Azad Kashmir and finish the Kashmir case foe ever. When on May11, 1998, India succeeded in nuclear explosion, the same day, she threatened Pakistan of nuclear strike. In Kargil, India is using lethal weapons on the local freedom fighters.

In 1974, then the Prime minister of Pakistan, Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, discussed the matter with Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. This great nuclear scientist came to Pakistan in 1975 from Holland for good, leaving his lucrative job and started his task on the project from the scratch. But, realizing great hurdles and impediments in his way from the people trained in traditional bureaucratic style, he succeeded in forming an independent research laboratory in 1976 by the special interest and interference of Mr. Bhutto. He had to face the callous conspiracies of some black sheep in our ranks who were the agents of the imperialists. In Pakistani establishment there is no dearth of such conscienceless black sheep who are on the pay role of the foreign agencies. They never let the patriots do any thing in the interest of Pakistan. They have their own agenda. They have measuring rods and weighing scales to measure and weigh the patriotism of others. These crows and vultures surrounded this eagle and were about to tear him in to pieces when Mr. Bhutto came to his rescue and escaped him from their onslaught. Dr. Khan with faith and mettle broke the vicious circle of the ravens and with the feathers of faith soared higher in the spheres of patriotism and national prestige. Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had to pay the price of this so called "Islamic Bomb." In his book written in Rawalpindi Jail titled" If I am Assassinated", he had written that the USA Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger had warned him to face horrible fate for making atom bomb.  What Kissinger said it was done through a rogue ruler General Zia-ul-Haq.

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan burned the mid night oil and brightened the dismal brow of his beloved nation. With intense patriotic spirit, he succeeded in his mission. His critics have been buried in the deep dykes of infamy, indignation and shame. He selected a team of talented Pakistani engineers and scientists. He was the master mind behind the plan. He acquired the necessary and modern paraphernalia to tackle the hectic situation and successfully met with the challenge. Once, perchance, I met him at a dinner hosted in the Holiday Inn Hotel Islamabad, in the honor of the a minister of Palestine by the  Palestinian ambassador Abdul Razzaq. I, and Dr. Khan were sitting on the same sofa. I curiously asked him about the bomb. He smiled and affirmatively nodded. My eyes were full of tears. The tears of love. The tears of happiness. The tears of thanks. The goblet of my national pride was over brimmed on this inspiring news. It was to save my beloved country from the pernicious and pugnacious designs of our enemies. I felt proud of being the citizen of a nuclear power.

Dr. Abdul Qadeer is our national hero. Besides, his being a nuclear scientist, he has rendered wonderful services in the social field. He loves music, poetry and beauty. There is a poet hidden in him. Once, I had presented tributes to him in an Urdu poem. On its' publication in a Pakistan daily, he was pleased  to read it. He  regularly writes columns in the dailies of Pakistan. His columns reflect his deep study of literature, religion and politics. He is a great democrat and a patriot. He is fan of great Urdu port Mirza Ghalib and mostly cites the couplets of Ghalib in his columns. Dr. Khan does not spare the shortcomings of any government and bravely criticizes the loopholes for betterment. He is popular in the masses for his honesty and patriotism that no body can beat him in direct presidential elections. Every political party desires his patronage but he is above party politics. He lives in the heart of every Pakistani. He is loved and adored. I am myself one of his great fans.

The dagger of history is two edged. Its' cut is very sharp. It cuts down every one to size. No one should boast and brag in the heinous game of pulling and pushing. It is tantamount to play ducks and drakes with the natural role of history. During the dictatorial military regime of General Pervez Musharraf, on the reports of IAEA, he was house arrested. He was interrogated, harassed and insulted for exporting the nuclear technology to some countries. He denied the allegations. Under the USA pressure, he was rounded. General Pervez Musharraf would have happily handed over him to the US agencies for inquiries but he hesitated to do so under the fear of public wrath and revolt. His private life was made miserable by leveling sanctions on his free movement. On the other hand, we sea that India had made their nuclear scientist Abul Kalam, the president of the state, while we had imprisoned our hero. It is the matter of great shame for us. It happened because we did not have a democratic government. The military rulers bow before the imperialist powers like dogs and donkeys. The same was done by General Pervez Musharraf on the call of Colin Powell , the US Secretary of State .