Convocations and Yaum-e-Takbeer

Random thoughts
Last week I attended convocations of medical colleges in Lahore and Islamabad. The first was at Allama Iqbal Medical College (AIMCL), Lahore. This college is famous for its high standards. About two years ago I was also there as chief guest. At that time Prof Dr Javed Akram, a dear friend and a competent doctor, was the principal while another dear friend and renowned psychiatrist, Prof Dr Malik Mubashir, was the VC of the University of Health Sciences, Lahore with which the AIMCL is affiliated.
While Dr Mubashir was taking the oath from the young doctors, their colleagues were outside on the roads indulging in violence, creating havoc, closing down OPDs, attacking senior doctors, etc. Prof Dr Akram (now VC of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University at PIMS, Islamabad) had also invited famous cricketer, Inzamamul Haq, in an attempt to make young doctors aware of their religious duties. I had, at the time, strong objected to the shutting of OPDs, as it is there that the poor go for treatment.
At the moment, Prof Dr Mahmood Shaukat, a competent and amicable doctor, is the principal. He is helping us in our social welfare project – the construction of a 300-bed hospital for the poor. The OPD is already functional and 800 to 1000 patients are receiving free medical treatment and medicines every day. Currently Maj-Gen Prof Dr Muhammad Aslam is the VC of the University of Health Sciences, Lahore – a competent doctor with decades of experience.
As a friend and colleague of Gen Chowhan, former surgeon general of Pakistan Army and DG of our KRL Hospital in Islamabad, we were frequently in contact. It was nice meeting him again after a long time. The convocation was well organised and everything ran smoothly. In my speech I again advised the young doctors to stay away from strikes, hooliganism, violence and other unlawful activities.
The second convocation was held at DHA-II, Islamabad by Yusra Medical and Dental College. The principal, Prof Dr Brig Sultan Muzaffar, is a dear friend and competent doctor. I had the honour of laying the foundation stone for this, now excellent, college. Prof Muzaffar is a soft-spoken, thorough gentleman, as too is his staff. As a former army doctor, he now has many experienced army doctors on his team. The college is affiliated with Bahria University, of which Vice Admiral Tanvir Faiz, a former submarine commander, is the rector. A fine gentleman, he has managed to pump more life into Bahria, making it a fine university.
The reception I received at both convocations was heart-warming and the students seemed happy to be receiving their degrees and medals from me. It is of great satisfaction to me to see that, not only the older generation, but also the younger one, appreciates my services to the country.
As May 28 (Yaum-e-Takbeer) approached, I was approached by innumerable journalists and anchor persons for interviews. However, I did not feel the need to harp on something we had done 17 years ago. As a matter of fact, we had already manufactured nuclear weapons by 1984, of which there is documentary proof. We, Muslims in general, have the bad habit of just talking of past achievements and glory without paying attention to current needs. We still tend to brag about battles won 1400 years ago and scientific achievements of 1000 years ago.
But where are we nowadays with achievements? We are beset by problems that cause enormous inconvenience and discomfort to the masses. Our education and administrative systems are in a mess and we are nowhere in science and technology. We face daily loadshedding, unemployment, mass murders, sectarian murders, inflation, law and order situation etc, and there doesn’t seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel.
I was hoping that, after 16 years of rebuttals from officials and the public alike, those claiming undeserved laurels would have given up. Not so, however. It seems that old habits die hard. I was amazed to see that this year they had gone even a step further and paid a huge amount on advertisements on TV proclaiming their unjustified, unverified claims. Had they been the architects of our nuclear programme, why did Gen Zia rename the project at Kahuta after me?
Why did the president, the PM, the services chiefs, etc congratulate and thank me after the May 28 and May 30 tests for making Pakistan a nuclear power? Why do the people call me Mohsin-e-Pakistan? Why did PM Nawaz Sharif bring H H Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi defence minister, and his son, Gen Khalid bin Sultan, together with our three services chiefs to Kahuta to show them our nuclear weapons and missiles? If the claims of my detractors were genuine, why were these guests not taken to see their facilities? Why do the ordinary people pay me so much respect and show me so much love?
It is all because people are not fooled; they know what is what and they can see through the false claims made by others. Ghulam Ishaq Khan was in charge of our programme for 17 years, during which time he regularly visited Kahuta to see the progress made. On August 18, 1999, in a letter to noted journalist Zahid Malik, he wrote: “The nation owes a debt of gratitude to its nuclear scientists and engineers for transforming an essentially technologically backward country into the 7th nuclear power state in the world. In bringing about this radical change, the most vital and crucial contribution, in my judgement, was made by Dr A Q Khan and his research organization…
“Using weapon-grade enriched uranium at KRL, they had developed, by the second half of 1984, a nuclear explosive device which could be assembled and detonated at a short notice…His relentless and single-minded pursuit and unremitting efforts, surmounting all blocks and hurdles, both internal and external, culminated in the May 28th detonation. It was none other than Dr A Q Khan and his team at KRL.”
In his farewell dinner speech to me on March 27, 2001, Gen. Musharaf, referring to the Indian nuclear explosion of May 1974, said: “The situation was critical… Pakistan literally looked to the sky for help. Allah Almighty listened to our prayers. In walked a giant of a man, none other than Dr A Q Khan, the man who would give Pakistan a nuclear capability single-handedly”.
On June 4, 2001, Agha Shahi, in ‘Dawn’, said: “If there is a nuclear capability in the hands of Pakistan today, the country owes it to Dr A Q Khan”. On July 1, 2001, in ‘Jang’, he said: “The credit for Pakistan’s nuclear capability can rightly be claimed by Dr A Q Khan who turned this impossible mission into a possible target”.
Email: dr.a.quadeer.khan@gmail.com