Abdul Q Khan: So Much Selfless Devotion!

The American Notebook: 

By Asif Jamal

Abdul Qadeer Khan, a man who once stood tall for the nation and then both people and the government were indebted to him who once was considered the “Savior of the Country”, also known in Urdu dialect as “Mohsin-e-Pakistan”.  His remarkable service of creating a balance of power with neighboring India who tested the ultimate weapon to be in the league of super powers while Mr Khan foresaw this as a direct threat to the safety of Pakistan so he countered and reciprocated the invention and successfully tested and made Pakistan rubbing the shoulders with those powerful nations but his idea behind was mere to balance the power in the region and nothing else.

Over in times, he went through various controversies, however, he addressed them all to his capacity and after all this time, he once again, buckled up to service Pakistan and formed a political party, Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz Pakistan (TTP), the diction meaning of his party is a movement to safe the country, which is the time of the need at this point when chaos is witnessed and observed in every nook of the corner of the country.  Nonetheless, the wish of saving the country is everyone’s voice but i n reality, it is far-flung from achieving.

Pakistanis living in the country or elsewhere have always felt close to the people of India for one simple reason and that is, for having and sharing the same culture; but we perhaps did value rather forgot that the nation rewarded their savior Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam usually referred to as Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, by making him the President.  He is a prominent Indian scientist and administrator who gave India nuke capability and served as the 11th President of India from 2002 to 2007 but then again, he didn’t have any controversy surrounding him as well.

Well Dr. Khan was not given any public office recognizing his services but regardless, A. Q.  Khan stood up himself and realized the need of his party and lunched to help the country, so the notion is good but running the affairs of a country is not as easy as running matters of a research lab.  Nonetheless, no one questions his perspective as he established his party TTP as a platform to launch a campaign against the mounting peril of corruption that has crippled the entire country but surprisingly he announced that he would not be contesting the elections personally but would be the founder and continue to provide his guidance to his party leaders, representatives and of course the nation.  So, he doesn’t want to be a part of the government directly but at the same time, he wishes to bring about the changes to make the nation self-sufficient and since he has undertaken and delivered an impossible task, thus, he deliberates the mission of cleaning up the nation with all nuisances.

Though many observers think that his idea of forming this party is really not new in fact, TTP is following footsteps of other prevailing parties such as Tehrik-e-Istiqlal Pakistan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and somewhat Jamaat-e-Islami but regardless, the credit to his basket is that he has no intention of chairing the power seat rather take the honor of being the head of the party and rather be a think tank.

The nation still takes him as a hero but the power circle sort of stay away from him for the prevailing controversy that mainly erupted during President Parvez Musharraf era that made him a polemic entity in the country and elsewhere.  The blame he carries is far more engaging then anything though still unproven but him being in 24/7 under watch to monitor his activities have limited his aspiration but later that became his political endeavor to once again do something better for the country.  In his case, he has proven himself that he created a balance of power to those who may be a threat to the solidarity of his homeland and he seems once again determined that he will make a difference though perhaps.  At the same time, he is also clear that he may not be able to procure an overwhelming mandate in the upcoming elections but to his calculations, even if his party take some seats, he would have his first step into the parliament that will ultimately make his way up and will gain power and majority in the years to come.  So looks like he is preparing his line of action with those who are looking for tomorrow as, at the moment, he has a tough fight in front of him against those who are already in the power stream.  Currently, it does not even seem that he has anyone who may be able to swipe a sizable win but his credit is his confidence as he is clearly looking at the future and not just today.

Those who know A. Q. Khan, he, apart from his scientific research works, Dr Khan has played an integral role in establishing several universities in Pakistan such as he founded a Metallurgy and Material Science Institute in Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology and Dr. A. Q. Khan Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at Karachi University besides being considered a role model in introducing metallurgical engineering syllabus in a number of educational institutes around the country, that means, he is continuously on the giving side and guiding the youth to stay in the right path of glory.

No matter how the internationally community looks at him, Abdul Qadeer remains  extensively admired among the Pakistanis and is ruminated to be one of the  most well respected and influential scientists that this country has ever had.  Though his health condition doesn’t allow him to put any extra hours towards his political or for that matter any social activities but formation of his party at least portrays that he sincerely thinks of Pakistan and its betterment selflessly.

– To participate in this column or for comments and suggestions, you may reach the scribe via email at theamericannotebook@gmail.com & follow him on Twitter @AsifJamalNY

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