Heroes!

According to a news report published today, “The government is considering filing an appeal against Islamabad High Court’s verdict declaring nuclear scientist Dr A. Q. Khan a ‘free citizen’. According to Government sources the court decision might be challenged because of concerns expressed by the United States and the United Kingdom over the ‘release’ of Dr Khan.”

I just want to refresh the memory of my readers a little.

1998 - Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in response to India’s tests a few days earlier. Dr. A.Q. Khan was hailed as a hero who brought the nuclear technology into the Muslim world. The President of Pakistan (Rafiq Tarar) awarded him a gold medal for his contributions in this field.

1999 - The government changed and Gen. Musharraf came to power.

2001 - The U.S. government was becoming wary of Dr. Khan and was afraid that he was trading nuclear technology to N. Korea (without any real evidence). Under U.S. pressure, the Pakistani government announced that Dr. Khan was to be dismissed from the post of Chairman KRL. In the face of huge public outcry, Gen. Musharraf, being the great tactician that he was, appointed Dr. Khan as Special Science and Technology advisor to the President. The public became satisfied at this, little knowing that this move achieved its purpose anyway, which was to remove Dr. Khan from KRL.

2002 – U.S. alleged that Dr. Khan was providing nuclear technology to Iraq, an accusation that has been subsequently proved wrong by the failure of the US forces to find any WMDs in Iraq (not that anyone noticed).

2003 – US alleged that Dr. Khan was supplying nuclear technology to Iran and Libya, again without any real evidence.

2004 – Dr. Khan was dismissed from his post as Advisor to the President “to allow a fair investigation into the alleged proliferation”. About a month later, Dr. Khan inexplicably confessed on TV and was pardoned by President Musharraf the next day and put under house arrest. There was no US reaction to this pardon.

2006 – Dr. Khan was diagnosed with prostate cancer and later with deep vein thrombosis.

2008 – The Government changed again and President Musharraf resigned. Dr. Khan alleged that he was forced to confess by Musharraf and that actually the President was the mastermind behind the proliferation.

2009 – Dr. Khan was released by the Islamabad High Court and made a ‘free citizen’. But the government stated that, under US pressure, it intended to appeal the decision.

I don’t want to comment on the above details. A lot has been and will be said on that. Neither do I want to judge Dr. A.Q. Khan. I just want to remind the naïve members of our society (and our government) that the only country that can ever sincerely want what is good for Pakistan is Pakistan itself. It does not matter if Dr. Khan is a hero or a villain. What matters is that we identify our people as heroes or villains according to the whims of other countries, which is absurd.

Who is a national hero in Pakistan? Based on what I see around me, anyone who acts against the interest of Pakistan cannot be called our hero, and as for someone who acts in the interest of Pakistan, and consequently becomes a threat to some other country, we are not allowed to call him a hero. So the only ones we’re left with are those who do not act at all. Maybe that is why most Pakistanis find it so hard to get off their asses. We want to be heroes, and the only way we can do that is not act for or against Pakistan. Way to go Pakistan! Wonderful people, don’t do anything yourselves, keep waiting for extraordinary people so that your can waste them when the US says so.