Ghulam Ishaq Khan
My dear Malik Sahib,
Thank you for your letter, asking me for my views on Dr. A.Q. Khan’s personality, traits of character, services and achievements “shedding light, by virtue of my close association with Pakistan’s nuclear programme, on some of the hitherto untouched aspects of his life, as the Man and the Scientist”.
I have been, no doubt, associated in various official capacities with the work and doings of Dr. A.Q. Khan, practically uninterruptedly, for over two decades. Early in our association, I could perceive in him a person imbued with a noble mission in life, difficult to achieve but not impossible for a man with his attributes of character. Later, of course, I would witness how assiduously he applied himself to move with steadfast determination towards achievement of the goal that he had set for himself. It was, as I now recall, with great delight and admiration to listen in our regular monthly meetings to his report on the progress made and the distances travelled, and how ingeniously and with what skill he had been able to surmount the impediments and hurdles that had stood or come in his way.
It is said that “an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man and the length of the shadow is largely influenced by the appointments he makes, who would provide the innovative new concepts that allow the implementation of his or her programme”. Working practically on a green field, one of the first tasks which Dr. A.Q. Khan addressed when he accepted the challenge of developing Pakistan’s nuclear programme was to create an ambience of his own in which to strive for the attainment of his mission by establishing the Kahuta (KHAN) Research Laboratories (KRL) and manning them by a team of loyal trustworthy and dedicated engineers and scientists with professional excellence. By now, KRL has emerged as one of our most outstanding institutions, on par with some of the best in the world in the field of defence production and research. It comprises facilities for uranium enrichment to weapon grade levels, for which it was originally planned to be set, incidentally established at a fraction of the cost being incurred at that time by other countries and institutions engaged in similar exercise, together with state of the art workshops, amenities and equipment, some of them located in separate buildings of allied or affiliated institutions, for the indigenous production of missiles (including Ghauri) and a whole range of other battle field weapons from anti-tank devices, multi-barrel guns and night vision appliances etc. This was the first major step towards attainment of self-reliance in defence technology and KRL, under the able leadership of Dr. A.Q. Khan, has thereby made invaluable contribution to the defence and security of the country. It is a pity that this point is not generally understood and appreciated.
Dr. A.Q. Khan is an active participant in life and a man of many “virtues”. Amenable to advice but standing firm on basic principles, he is endowed with an uncommon degree of dynamism and drive; is intolerant of indecision and procrastination and does not hesitate to accept a challenge no matter how daunting the task is. However defence research and production is not his only forte. Together with an abiding interest in the spread of education, with emphasis on Sciences and Technology he has diversed other interests, ranging from love of Urdu poetry to human resource development and welfare. As a founder member of the Society of the Promotion of Engineering Science and Technology (SOPREST) he actively believes in the Society’s philosophy that promotion of Science and Technology is a sin qua non for economic growth, human welfare and national security and that in order to alleviate poverty, eradicate unemployment and increase productivity and production it is imperative to invent and introduce new technologies and improve upon and replace older ones. He is also on the Board of Governors of the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (GI KI), the first institution set up by the Society for the realization of its aim and objects and as its Project Director, Dr. A.Q. Khan had made invaluable contribution to its development into a Centre of Excellence and to making it, as adjudged by neutral observers, the top most institution among Pakistan’s institutions of Science and Technology and one of the distinguished technical seat of learning (University) in Asia.
Lately as an earnest of his human resource development exertions, he has founded a new welfare organisation by the name of SACHET. With a commitment to contribute to the various aspects of human development, its aim is “to promote human development for the underprivileged in Pakistan”. Initially it will be working in three areas of (i) Literacy promotion (ii) Geriatric Care and (iii) Reproductive Health, which it considers “contemporary realities and issues relevant to the present day Pakistan”.
I have said on some previous occasion that, the measures of goodness and greatness that a person achieves in life depends on the causes and the nobility and innate truth of these causes that he espouses in life. By this definition Dr. A.Q. Khan is truly a “good” and “great” person as there cannot be a more noble cause than working for the development of one’s own country and the welfare of its people. What he has achieved in life so far and the deeds that he has accomplished speak for themselves and they speak louder today than the words in which they can be described affirming the truth of the aphorism.
