Abdul Qadeer Khan
Abdul Qadeer Khan, NI, HI, FPAS (/ˈɑːbdəl ˈkɑːdɪər ˈkɑːn/ ⓘ AHB-dəl KAH-deer KAHN; Urdu: عبد القدیر خان; 1 April 1936 – 10 October 2021), known as A. Q. Khan, was a Pakistani nuclear physicist and metallurgical engineer who is colloquially known as the "father of Pakistan's atomic weapons program".
Abdul Qadeer Khan NI HI FPAS | |
|---|---|
ڈاکٹر عبدالقدیر خان | |
Khan in 2017 | |
| Born | 1 April 1936 |
| Died | 10 October 2021 (aged 85) Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Nationality | Pakistani |
| Alma mater | University of Karachi Delft University of Technology Catholic University of Louvain D. J. Sindh Government Science College |
| Known for | Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, gaseous diffusion, martensite and graphene morphology |
| Spouse |
Hendrina Reternik (m. 1963) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Nishan-i-Imtiaz (1996; 1999) Hilal-i-Imtiaz (1989) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Metallurgical engineering |
| Institutions | Khan Research Laboratories GIK Institute of Technology Hamdard University Urenco Group |
| Thesis | The effect of morphology on the strength of copper-based martensites (1972) |
| Doctoral advisor | Martin J. Brabers |
| Science Advisor to the Presidential Secretariat | |
| In office 1 January 2001 – 31 January 2004 | |
| President | Pervez Musharraf |
| Preceded by | Ishfaq Ahmad |
| Succeeded by | Atta-ur-Rahman |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Pakistan (2012–2013) |
| Website | draqkhan.com.pk |
An émigré (Muhajir) from India who migrated to Pakistan in 1952, Khan was educated in the metallurgical engineering departments of Western European technical universities where he pioneered studies in phase transitions of metallic alloys, uranium metallurgy, and isotope separation based on gas centrifuges. After learning of India's "Smiling Buddha" nuclear test in 1974, Khan joined his nation's clandestine efforts to develop atomic weapons when he founded the Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1976 and was both its chief scientist and director for many years.
In January 2004, Khan was subjected to a debriefing by the Musharraf administration over evidence of nuclear proliferation handed to them by the Bush administration of the United States. Khan admitted his role in running a nuclear proliferation network – only to retract his statements in later years when he leveled accusations at the former administration of Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1990, and also directed allegations at President Musharraf over the controversy in 2008.
Khan was accused of selling nuclear secrets illegally and was put under house arrest in 2004. After years of house arrest, Khan successfully filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government of Pakistan at the Islamabad High Court whose verdict declared his debriefing unconstitutional and freed him on 6 February 2009. The United States reacted negatively to the verdict and the Obama administration issued an official statement warning that Khan still remained a "serious proliferation risk".
After his death on 10 October 2021, he was given a state funeral at Faisal Mosque before being buried at the H-8 graveyard in Islamabad.