Random Thoughts
By Dr A Q Khan

On Dec 10, 1984, at 10 a.m., to be exact, the director of security at KRL, Col A Rahman (who is no longer among us), Maj Gen Anis Ali Syed, both exemplary officers, and I had an important meeting with President Zia-ul-Haq. We first met Gen Mian Abdul Waheed, COS to the president and a friend of Gen Anis. We gave him a historic letter for the president, informing him that we had carried out a number of successful nuclear cold tests, of which the number of neutrons created and the time for their generation was of textbook data. I also stated on that occasion that KRL could carry out a hot test at a week’s notice. When we were ushered into the president’s office we were met by a beaming Gen Zia, who warmly shook hands with us and congratulated us and then proceeded to hug me.

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Random thoughts
by Dr A Q Khan

In one of my columns I had written about ghairat. That article gave rise to much discussion. It was heartening to note that some people are still conscious of this “scarce commodity.” It came as a surprise to me that, while some people were happy that I had drawn attention to an important need, there were others who were angry about it and some retorted in a manner that lacked logic.

In the article I wrote about the proverbial pride of the celebrated poet of pre-Islamic Arabia, Amr bin Kulthum, who had slain the king, Amb bin Hind, because the queen had addressed the proud poet’s mother in an insulting manner. In our own time, the young Iraqi journalist Muntazar al-Zaidi, displayed an example of ghairat by throwing his shoe at George Bush in anger at his policies and occupation of Iraq. Unfortunately, it did not make much impression on President Bush. It was like water flowing off a duck’s back.
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