Saga of the Bomb

Dr. A.Q.Khan’s disclosure on Yom e Takbeer that they were ready to explode the bomb as early as 1984 reminds me of the following which I may be allowed to share with your readers.

I, along with Late Maj Muhammad Ali Shah (Retd) – brother in law of late Gen Yahya, had gone to greet Gen Yahya on an Eid day in 1984.  Gen was then under detention at 61 Harley Street, Rawalpindi. After a while when we rose to beg his leave, he, in his usual jovial manner, said, “Sit down, George Washington is coming, you should meet him also.”  After a while a thick bearded gentleman looking like George Washington but clad in white kurta and pajamas appeared from the side door. He was late Dr. G W Chaudhry – one time minister in Yahya’s cabinet, and even being a Bengali had opted for Pakistan after the creation of Bangla Desh. He was at that time teaching in an American University and was on a visit to Pakistan for a purpose.  He had just returned after a meeting with late President Gen Zia ul Haq that afternoon. After the exchange of introductory pleasantries with us, Yahya jerking his thick eyebrows in an enigmatic gesture asked him as to how had the meeting gone.  G W Chaudhry shaking his head murmured, “He says they don’t have it”. Yahya, visibly agitated, bawled contemptuously , “Jhoot kehta hai, munafiq!” 

Intrigued by this exchange and with a craving to know what it was all about, I called on the late Yahya Khan the next day and this is what transpired.

Dr. G W Chaudhry had just accidentally run in to  Adlai Stevenson – the then US Representative at the UN – in the UN building lobby and had asked him as to why was the US govt. after Pakistan’s nuclear programme.  According to G W Ch. Stevenson drawing him nearer by holding his arm had whispered, “We know it you have it.  Go and tell them to explode it.  Once you blow it up we would be the one along with the world to make one hell of a hue and cry.  But you would have had presented the world with a fait accompli.  After about six month everything will cool down.  Go and blow it up”.  G W Ch. had come to convey this message to Gen Zia, who had surprisingly told him that Pakistan didn’t have the device to explode. 

Col. Riaz Jafri (Retd)