After the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, India took several strong measures that have left Pakistan rattled. The statements from Pakistani ministers that have surfaced recently clearly reflect their frustration. At times, they talk about war, and at other times, they issue nuclear war threats. From the Defense Minister to the Foreign Minister, Information and Broadcasting Minister, and even the DG of ISPR, all are making such aggressive threats. They claim that Pakistan, as a nuclear power, is not afraid. However, when it comes to nuclear power, Pakistan is far behind India, and if they act provocatively and India retaliates, the outcome will be beyond what Pakistan could ever imagine.
The person who made Pakistan a nuclear power was born in India: Abdul Qadeer Khan. Under the leadership of Khan, Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program began in 1976. Khan was born in 1935 in Bhopal during British rule, but he left India and moved to Pakistan during the partition. He came from a patriotic family; his father was a teacher, and both his grandfather and great-grandfather were officers in the army. Khan often said, “Everyone kicks those who don’t have their own country. We have to protect this country more than our own lives.”
16 Days in URENCO’s Secret Area
Abdul Qadeer Khan spent 16 days in Europe, stealing the formula to create nuclear bombs, which he then brought to Pakistan, where the nuclear bomb was made. He faced allegations of theft, and Western media referred to him as a super-spy, but he always considered himself a true patriot. Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program began in 1976 under the leadership of Abdul Qadeer Khan. Before this, Khan had been living and working in Europe, where he stole the formula to make nuclear bombs using uranium.
Khan studied science in Pakistan before moving to Europe. In 1972, he received a doctorate from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. That same year, he began working at the Physical Dynamics Research Laboratory (FDO) in Amsterdam.
FDO was a subsidiary of Verenidge Machine-Fabrieken, which worked for URENCO, a nuclear facility in Europe. The United States and other Western countries didn’t want to remain dependent on nuclear fuel from the U.S., which led the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands to form URENCO in 1970 for the supply of enriched uranium. The same enriched uranium was used in the Hiroshima bomb.
Marriage to a Dutch Citizen
URENCO’s uranium enrichment plant was located in Almelo, Netherlands, and FDO worked as a subcontractor and consultant for URENCO, which technically linked Khan to URENCO. Khan was well-liked by his colleagues, quickly making friends wherever he went. FDO had recommended him for work at URENCO. Khan lived in Western Europe for 11 years and married a Dutch citizen, although his wife was originally from South Africa but spoke Dutch and held a British passport.
Stumbling Upon the Secret of Uranium Enrichment
A week after being hired at URENCO, Khan was sent to Almelo. He was tasked with translating technical documents from foreign languages, a job he often did at home. In 1974, he had the chance to spend 16 days in the most secretive area of the Almelo plant. He was assigned to translate documents related to ultracentrifuge technology from German to Dutch. During those 16 days, Khan thoroughly explored the plant’s secret sections. Ultracentrifuge technology is used to separate U-238 from U-235, which is essential for making nuclear bombs.
His colleagues once asked why he was translating documents in a foreign language, to which Khan dismissed the question, claiming he was writing letters to his family. This wasn’t Dutch or German. Khan was also often seen walking around the factory with a notebook, but no one suspected he was gathering secrets to make nuclear bombs for Pakistan.
The Start of Pakistan’s Nuclear Program
In January 1976, Abdul Qadeer Khan suddenly left the Netherlands and moved to Pakistan. His wife told neighbors they were only visiting, but her husband had fallen ill. Shortly afterward, Khan resigned from FDO and began the Pakistani nuclear program at the Kahuta headquarters in Islamabad.
In the 1970s, Khan sent over 20 letters to Pakistani agents in Canada involved in the smuggling of centrifuge technology. These letters highlighted his team’s successes. Soon after, a CIA report leaked, stating that Pakistan could develop a nuclear bomb within a few years. However, Pakistan’s then-president, Zia-ul-Haq, reassured the world that Pakistan had no intention of becoming a nuclear power, but Khan had already dropped hints.
First Nuclear Test in 1983
By 1980, Pakistan had become capable of uranium enrichment for weapons. In the late 1980s, progress accelerated, and in 1983, Pakistan conducted its first nuclear test.
An investigation was conducted in the Netherlands regarding Khan, but no evidence was found that he had been sent as a spy. It seemed that Khan had begun sending URENCO’s secrets to Islamabad in 1974, around the time when India conducted its peaceful nuclear test. Western media called him a super-spy, but Khan always downplayed this identity.
In 1990, he said, “The research done at Kahuta is the result of our innovation and struggle. We did not receive any technical help from abroad.” As a reward for his patriotism, Pakistan built the A.Q. Khan Research Laboratory in his name at Kahuta.
Also Read: Pahalgam Terror Attack: Why Terrorists Chose Baisaran Valley?
