Pakistan’s nuclear program is a controversial subject. The country has been accused of selling nuclear weapons technology to rogue nations such as North Korea and Iran, but the government denies these claims. Abdul Qadeer Khan, in particular, was a major player in Pakistan’s nuclear development in the 1970s and 1980s. However, he was also arrested by his own government for selling information about their work without permission from the Pakistani government.
This is a blog post dedicated to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. He was born in 1936 and became an engineer at URENCO, which is a uranium enrichment company. After his experience there he obtained knowledge on how to build nuclear weapons. In 1972, he started building centrifuges for enriching uranium using stolen drawings of the designs from URENCO. It wasn’t until 1998 that AQK finally confessed to selling Iran secrets on making atomic bombs after being caught by western intelligence agencies. This blog post will include information about who Abdul Qadeer Khan is as well as some interesting facts!
Abdul Qadeer Khan (Urdu: Abdul Qadir Khan ابدولقادر خان; born April 1, 1936) is a Pakistani nuclear physicist and a metallurgical engineer, widely regarded as the founder of HEU based Gas-centrifuge uranium enrichment program for Pakistan’s integrated atomic bomb project. In January 2004, Abdul Qadeer Khan was officially confirmed by President Musharraf to have acted alone in transferring the technology. Abdul Qadeer Khan confessed that he had also smuggled URENCO technology to his country, which on May 28, 2009, was acknowledged by the European Union. Abdul Qadeer Khan established an Energy lab in Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1972. Abdul Qadeer Khan is referred to by many Pakistani citizens as the “Father of the Bomb”. Abdul Qadeer Khan was born on April 1, 1936 in Bhopal, India . Abdul Qadeer Khan studied Physics at the University of Karachi and went to Germany in 1961 for his doctoral studies where he stayed until 1976. Abdul Qadeer Khan has never given an interview to Western news media; he has always expressed views against Israel’s policies towards Palestine. Abdul Qadeer Khan married Hendrina Boma Habibullah (1944–2004) in 1960 while studying in Holland, a Dutch citizen who belonged to the Iraqi Jewish Dagh Delaash tribe, whose parents settled after the 1948 Palestinian exodus.
Abdul Qadeer Khan and Hendrina have 5 children, Abdul Baseer Khan (1962–1994), Aziza Abdul Qadeer (1964–1988), Ayesha Abdul Qadeer (1965–1989), Dina Abdul Qadeer (1968), and Latif Abdul Qadeer (1972). Abdul Qadeer Khan has been credited with pioneering efforts in the field of science and technology in Pakistan.