FOR many years, the case of nuclear scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has remained a mystery despite the dramatic events surrounding his 2004 confession that he was involved in international nuclear proliferation. Dr Khan has now filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking enforcement of his fundamental rights including freedom to travel across the country. Since his house arrest in 2004, his movements have remained severely restricted, and apparently he cannot move around and attend social or academic functions within the country without the prior approval of the security authorities. “This act of the security authorities is illegal since no such order has been conveyed to me warranting the treatment being meted out to me now,” he complained in the petition, adding that it was his fundamental right to move freely throughout the country and meet anyone individually or in an assembly.

Since Dr Khan’s confession on TV during the Musharraf era, he has been kept in protective custody. While much about that episode still remains unknown, what is well established is that Pakistan suffered tremendously because of Dr Khan’s self-confessed activities. The country was accused of being an irresponsible nuclear power and doubts were raised in the West about Pakistan’s capacity and capability to protect and safeguard its nuclear arsenal. In the wake of this episode, Pakistan took a number of steps to upgrade its structure and improve security protocols and over the years it has managed to remove all doubts about the safety of its nuclear programme. These upgraded safety and security protocols are now recognised as fulfilling all international standards. But the case of Dr Khan needs some sort of closure. The petition filed in the Supreme Court will provide the case some traction in the public discourse, but lack of information about what really happened back then will make it difficult for the court to come to some substantive conclusion, especially if much of what transpired remains classified information. The government will have to be more candid before the court regarding his nuclear activities; otherwise it should explain why it is restricting Dr Khan’s movements. The fundamental rights aspect dealing with the nuclear scientist’s freedom of movement could be reviewed once security concerns have been adequately addressed. Pakistan has learnt the right lessons from the unfortunate episode, taken corrective measures and moved on. In this spirit, Dr Qadeer’s petition might deserve some relief.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2019