Opinion | Editorials
Defending 'father' of Pakistan's bomb
The moment has arrived for Pakistan to recognise Khan's contributions to the country.
- By Farhan Bokhari Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:03 June 12, 2008
Four years after publicly confessing to responsibility for overseeing transfer of nuclear know-how and technology to foreign countries, Abdul Qadeer Khan - the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme - has come out publicly defending himself against proliferation related charges.
In a spate of recent telephone interviews, Khan - a metallurgist by training who led Pakistan's nuclear programme through its toughest period - is now eager to deny any wrongdoing.
His explanation of his past confession and now change of heart is simply that his previous action was driven by the need to protect Pakistan's vital national interests.
Khan's explanation indeed must be taken at its face value. Given that his admission four years ago came in a statement on national television, and at no point was he allowed to face an independent line of questions, it is perfectly understandable where it is coming from right now.
But the moment has arrived for Pakistan to recognise Khan's contributions to helping the country improve its security in a way that no one else has ever done. The challenge to Pakistan's security was posed in 1974 when India carried out its first series of nuclear tests at Pokhran, setting in motion a new arms race in South Asia.
That was a difficult period for Pakistan - just three years after it faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of India which led to the creation of Bangladesh in place of the former East Pakistan. For Pakistan, the Indian nuclear tests of 1974 presented an acute challenge to vital security interests.
Pakistani leaders concluded after the Indian nuclear tests that their failure to match India would in time heavily compromise Pakistan's security interests, perhaps even turning the country to accept a full dominance of its larger neighbour.
Secure state
Thirty four years after the first Indian nuclear tests, Pakistan's independent posture as a secure state has much to do with Khan's contribution to leading his country into becoming the world's first Muslim nation armed with nuclear weapons.
In 1998 when Pakistan carried out its maiden nuclear tests under Khan's watch, the resultant joy was not just shared in the country.
Across the Islamic world from the furthest corners of Asia to Palestine and beyond, Muslims came out to celebrate the event as their own, in recognition of Pakistan's achievement.
Since those tests in 1998, Pakistan has been in the midst of two major military standoffs with India - one during the conflict surrounding Kargil in Kashmir in 1999 and the other in 2002.
An all out war was prevented on both occasions largely because of the presence of nuclear weapons as a potent deterrent. Without Pakistan's status as a nuclear weapons state, the possibility of an all out Indo-Pakistan war could not have been set aside during either one of these two challenging and tense conflicts.
As for the allegations of proliferation levelled against Khan, he has begun to give some hints of his point of view. Remarks such as "the full scale of information is yet to emerge", point towards a wider picture on the case.
It is likely that in time, Pakistanis may eventually see revelations of many more individuals and possibly even institutions connected to the nuclear related allegations, as opposed to being linked to one man.
Once that wider picture becomes public, only then will Pakistanis be able to tell the extent of Khan's personal involvement in the proliferation related allegations.
But for now, his contribution, which includes improving safeguards for Pakistan, have to be appreciated. The greatest contribution by Khan however must be recognised as the extent to which he has helped lift the pride of Pakistanis in their own country.
Many Pakistanis who have known him as the "father of the nuclear bomb", fondly remember him in different and very interesting ways.
While Khan remains practically under house arrest in spite of his recent freedom to take telephone calls, across Pakistan he is remembered in more than one way.
From new-born babies named after him to people naming their shops in his name, has come to occupy a place in the hearts of many Pakistanis.
Farhan Bokhari is a Pakistan-based commentator who writes on political and economic matters.
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