Disgraced heroes of nuclear PakistanBy Tariq Butt
ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistani leaders who made the homeland a proud nuclear power have been treated too shabbily, making every Pakistani hang his head in shame.
In Pakistan's immediate neighbourhood, the father of India's nuclear bomb, a Muslim, has been elevated as president in recognition of his services to his nation. His lifestyle, even when he is head of the state, conveys a lot to Pakistani leaders, who are given to pompous and luxurious lifestyle, to learn and follow.
A few people remembered the four heroes on Monday that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) celebrated as "Youm-e-Takbeer". On this day nine years ago, Nawaz Sharif, as prime minister, had demonstrated unprecedented courage and guts and earned laurels for detonating nuclear devices, making Pakistan a member of the elite club of nuclear states.
The rightful founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme, the illustrious Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), was sent to the gallows, an act even judges continue to repent for what his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) says his judicial murder.
And his daughter, Benazir Bhutto, who has little to contribute to her father's legacy in the nuclear field because she, while being even the prime minister, was in no position to do so, is in self-exile for nearly a decade. She continues to face an uncertain future despite the olive branch she has been continuously extending to President Musharraf, for a rapprochement.
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the nuclear scientist who can aptly be described as the father of Pakistan's historic nuclear development, has been in confinement for the past few years. He is seriously down due to a variety of health problems, aggravated by the muck heaped on him on the question of transfer of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Until four years back, Dr Khan was a hero of every successive civil and military government. His bad days started in 2003, when the then CIA chief laid bare before Musharraf the scientist's alleged involvement in the transfer of nuclear technology to foreign states. Even after his dumping by the present government, he remains a hero of every Pakistani as before.
Nawaz Sharif was at his best when he, despite threats to and commitments for foreign financial largesse for Pakistan, stood like a rock, and made Pakistan a declared nuclear state on May 28, 1998, just seventeen days after India detonated its devices for the second time since 1974. Pakistan faced immense hardships at the international level because of these blasts.
Those who had witnessed the prime minister performing in those heady days say that at no stage Nawaz Sharif vacillated and remained determined after Indian explosions that Pakistan would not lag behind. He heroically rejected all persuasions and fears, drummed up by certain elements even in Pakistan.
After about a year and a half, his government was overthrown in a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf. And a year later, he went into exile and is living abroad since then. He is eager to return to Pakistan but Musharraf is not prepared to let him in simply because he knows that Nawaz would make the things topsy-turvy for him. This is the unseemly fate that has befallen the twice-elected premier.
The fourth great player in making Pakistan a nuclear power, General Ziaul Haq, was killed in the plane crash in August 1988. A major reason behind his assassination was his firm stand on Pakistan's nuclear programme. It was immensely developed, rather consummated, during his eleven-year rule.
When the PML celebrated the Youm-e-Takbeer to mark the epic nuclear detonations, the Musharraf-Aziz government maintained total silence as it has no hero on its side. Had it any one of them in its ranks, it would have also participated in the celebrations in a big way. Unfortunately, political partisanship is the name of the game.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=58175
ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistani leaders who made the homeland a proud nuclear power have been treated too shabbily, making every Pakistani hang his head in shame.
In Pakistan's immediate neighbourhood, the father of India's nuclear bomb, a Muslim, has been elevated as president in recognition of his services to his nation. His lifestyle, even when he is head of the state, conveys a lot to Pakistani leaders, who are given to pompous and luxurious lifestyle, to learn and follow.
A few people remembered the four heroes on Monday that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) celebrated as "Youm-e-Takbeer". On this day nine years ago, Nawaz Sharif, as prime minister, had demonstrated unprecedented courage and guts and earned laurels for detonating nuclear devices, making Pakistan a member of the elite club of nuclear states.
The rightful founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme, the illustrious Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), was sent to the gallows, an act even judges continue to repent for what his Pakistan People's Party (PPP) says his judicial murder.
And his daughter, Benazir Bhutto, who has little to contribute to her father's legacy in the nuclear field because she, while being even the prime minister, was in no position to do so, is in self-exile for nearly a decade. She continues to face an uncertain future despite the olive branch she has been continuously extending to President Musharraf, for a rapprochement.
Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the nuclear scientist who can aptly be described as the father of Pakistan's historic nuclear development, has been in confinement for the past few years. He is seriously down due to a variety of health problems, aggravated by the muck heaped on him on the question of transfer of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.
Until four years back, Dr Khan was a hero of every successive civil and military government. His bad days started in 2003, when the then CIA chief laid bare before Musharraf the scientist's alleged involvement in the transfer of nuclear technology to foreign states. Even after his dumping by the present government, he remains a hero of every Pakistani as before.
Nawaz Sharif was at his best when he, despite threats to and commitments for foreign financial largesse for Pakistan, stood like a rock, and made Pakistan a declared nuclear state on May 28, 1998, just seventeen days after India detonated its devices for the second time since 1974. Pakistan faced immense hardships at the international level because of these blasts.
Those who had witnessed the prime minister performing in those heady days say that at no stage Nawaz Sharif vacillated and remained determined after Indian explosions that Pakistan would not lag behind. He heroically rejected all persuasions and fears, drummed up by certain elements even in Pakistan.
After about a year and a half, his government was overthrown in a military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf. And a year later, he went into exile and is living abroad since then. He is eager to return to Pakistan but Musharraf is not prepared to let him in simply because he knows that Nawaz would make the things topsy-turvy for him. This is the unseemly fate that has befallen the twice-elected premier.
The fourth great player in making Pakistan a nuclear power, General Ziaul Haq, was killed in the plane crash in August 1988. A major reason behind his assassination was his firm stand on Pakistan's nuclear programme. It was immensely developed, rather consummated, during his eleven-year rule.
When the PML celebrated the Youm-e-Takbeer to mark the epic nuclear detonations, the Musharraf-Aziz government maintained total silence as it has no hero on its side. Had it any one of them in its ranks, it would have also participated in the celebrations in a big way. Unfortunately, political partisanship is the name of the game.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=58175
