Mohsin-e-Pakistan and renowned atomic scientist Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has said that he may consider contesting next elections from Lahore and even though the situation of the country was deteriorating, people should not lose hope.
He was addressing a big gathering at Faisal Auditorium in a ceremony organised by Directorate of Students Affairs of the Punjab University. Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran presided over the ceremony while Director Students Affair Chaudhry Iftikhar, people from various walks of life and a large number of students were present on the occasion.
Dr AQ Khan urged the students to play good role and become a leader. He said there was a lot of talent in Pakistan like the eight-year old Arfa Karim in the field of IT and Ali Nawaz who secured 23 As in A Level examination. He said talented people should be provided with guidance and facilities. He advised the youth to elect educated people and technocrats in the next polls. “Our drawback is that our government lacks technocrats,” he said, adding that the progress of developed nations was based on scientists and engineers but on the contrary, politicians were issuing statements against technocrats. He said politicians were making all efforts to destroy the country and it was very difficult to advise them. He said after feeling the passion of PU students, he was thinking of taking part in the elections from Lahore. He said defeat of any opponent was possible if there was a dedicated team.
While sharing his memories regarding early days of his life and atomic programme of Pakistan, he said he cried over the heartrending incident of East Pakistan and he could not eat anything for a few days.
He said when India conducted atomic tests in 1974, everybody was thinking that Pakistan would be no more. “I wrote a letter to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to start a nuclear programme, he asked me to come to Pakistan and to live in the country because Pakistan needed me,” he said. He said that he drew first salary after six months and it was only Rs 3,000 (three thousand). He said Holland, Germany and England had invested 2 billion dollars on their atomic programme He said the atomic programme started in 1976 and in April 1978, the first enrichment of uranium was conducted and by 1984, it had been enriched to 90 percent.
“Your elders made an atomic bomb on their own and they did not seek anybody’s help,” he said, adding that the standard of Pakistani laboratories was equivalent to German and Swiss labs. He said that Kahotta Research Laboratory was producing such sensitive equipment which was being produced by one or two countries in the world. Dr AQ Khan said when India started work on Prithvi Missile, they prepared ballistic missile Ghauri and successfully tested it on April 6, 1998. He said that the test shattered all the Indian dreams of conquering and destroying Pakistan. Dr AQ Khan said he advised the government in 1982 to focus on industrialisation and establish automobile industry. He said that the rulers did not listen to his advice and now we were spending billions of rupees on import of cars, mobile phones and other items. He said the situation of Karachi, Quetta and Frontier was worsening and thanks to Allah, Punjab was in a better condition. He said Shahbaz Sharif was a hardworking person and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif should leave the politics to him. He advised the students to offer Sala’h and read two or three pages of Holy Quran with translation. In his inaugural address, Punjab University Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Mujahid Kamran said that the nation could not forget the efforts and benefaction of Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan.
Dr AQ Khan could be our next CM!
