WILL our next generation even remember that Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan was the real hero behind the journey of making our country a nuclear nation? I wonder because his name is totally blacked out in the national news media. Despite all the efforts to place the whole credit some-where else, the people of Pakistan will always consider Dr A.Q. Khan a hero who made our defence invincible. How can people forget him? His name may not be mentioned in the national media, but he is all over social media, and, above all, in the hearts of the people.

Recently, I was watching a speech by his daughter. It was full of emotions. She even cried when she narrated the hardships he and his family had passed through during the period when Dr A.Q. Khan was under house arrest. She and her mother were not allowed to meet him. In his last days, he wished to visit Makkah for pilgrimage, but was not allowed by the government.

In an interview, while sitting on a foot-path, he was full of remorse for what he had done for the country because of what he got in return.

He complained that the treatment he got was because of the language he spoke. When he was admitted to the hospital, people waited outside with flowers and banners showering love on that poor soul. This was the difference between state’s preferences and people’s sentiments.

When he died, the man was given a state funeral. People in large numbers attended the funeral, including cabinet ministers, army officers and parliamentarians. The national flag was flown at half-mast, too. However, the absence of higher officials, including the then prime minister and the leader of the opposition, was greatly felt.

Malik ul Quddoos
Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2025