ISLAMABAD: The Natio­nal Assembly on Thursday passed a unanimous resolut­ion to pay homage to Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, the architect of the country’s nuclear bomb, who passed away last week.

The house also paid tribute to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Pervez Malik and comedy legend Umer Sharif.

Initially, two separate resolutions were moved in the house, one by the opposition and the other by the government, but Speaker Asad Qai­ser asked Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan to club both resolutions. Then the house passed it unanimously.

The resolution said the house expressed deep grief on the demise of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and paid tribute to him for making the country’s defence insurmountable.

It said Dr Khan’s demise was a national loss and his services and sacrifices will be remembered for a long time. “His sacrifices, in difficult time, were unforgettable,” it added.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said the whole nation was indebted and regretted what nuclear scientist Dr Khan faced during over two decades which he called “partial arrest” in his own house.

He said Gen Musharraf had done an unfair act with Dr Khan by forcing him to give confessional statement regar­ding nuclear proliferation.

PPP leader Raja Pervez Ashraf said the name of Dr Khan will be written in gol­den words. He said the nuc­lear scientist was brought in the country by former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Mr Ashraf said Dr Khan was a national hero but he was badly treated. “Whatever he had faced was painful. He should have not been given such a disgraceful treatment,” he added.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Dr Khan had not only made defence of the country undefeatable, but also prepared a crop of scientists in the country.

Later, legislators paid rich tribute to Umer Sharif and Pervez Malik.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2021