Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of Pakistan’s atom bomb, dies at 85
TOP Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, hailed as the father of the country’s atomic bomb and denounced for his proliferation of nuclear technology, died on Sunday at the age of 85.
Khan was moved to a hospital in Islamabad in the early morning where he died from complications related to Covid-19.
Thousands of people attended funeral prayers at Islamabad’s landmark Faisal Mosque. Senior civil and military leaders and politicians attended the funeral, which was shown live by national and private broadcasters.
Khan, recipient of the highest civilian awards, was given a state funeral in recognition of his services to the country and flags were flying at half-mast.
Earlier, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said that the scientist would be buried in the mosque.
The prime minister said Khan was loved by the nation because of his crucial contribution to “making us a nuclear weapon state.”
“This has provided us security against an aggressive, much larger nuclear neighbour. For the people of Pakistan he was a national icon,” the prime minister said.
“Great loss Pakistan will forever honour his services to the nation Nation is heavily indebted to him for his contributions in enhancing our defence capabilities,”
Defence Minister Pervez Khattak said.
Khan is revered by many in Pakistan as the father of the country’s nuclear weapons programme. Pakistan conducted tit-for-tat nuclear weapons test in 1998 after arch-rival India conducted similar tests.
But he is also seen as having brought disgrace upon himself - and endangering the world - by spreading nuclear weapons know-how. In 2004, Khan confessed on television to having leaked secrets to Libya, North Korea and Iran as part of a nuclear proliferation ring.
Pakistani authorities prevented foreign investigators from questioning Khan.
Despite the international outcry, then-military ruler Pervez Musharraf granted Khan a pardon, although he remained under house arrest.
A few years later, Khan retracted his confession and alleged that Musharraf had forced him to make the statement.
In 2009, Khan won his freedom back after fighting a long battle in court.
Although he was allowed to meet friends and visit relatives, Khan could only move under heavy security arrangements and has largely lived out of the public eye.
He was born in Bhopal, India on April 1, 1936, and his family migrated to Pakistan after partition in 1947. Khan went to study in Germany and held a doctorate in metallurgical engineering from Belgium.