Zafar Bhai,

 

I am very much delighted to receive your email about Dr Salam. I agree with you that the country did not treat Salam very well and he made it through very dint of his mental prowess. He was elevated to the highest ever office of the country ( for several years-18-20 years he was chief scientific adviser to Ayub Khan and others)) and what improvement did he suggest to change that national attitude and inertia during those 20 years and then he too sucked to the same black hole. This is extremely pathetic situation. I too know the Salam family and your family very closely and  I like you to see other side of the mirror and form some informed opinion of the  national disgraceful situation the country fell into. When a person of his caliber get a high position to change the prevalent attitude and does not change it, he too becomes a victim of his mistakes.  All of those Civil servants (Special Union) entrapped the dictator and he too (Ayub - became a victim of his mistakes)
It did happen with Salam but all of those at the helm of affairs, who could have changed the social structure of the society while in office. After the partition the Pakistani leaders continued the business as usual and never took the trouble to formulate a new code of ethics. It was not business as usual. You only mentioned Salam's case but you should have mentioned all the disgraced leaders, who could have changed the scientific foundation of Pakistani Science. I know why you are mentioning Salam's case. Salam did bring a name to the country and did suggest a few minor changes but became expedient to the conspiracy of  bureaucracy. He should have advised Ayub to weed out old wood ( Saleemuzam, Raziuddin, Shafqat and Usmani ) from the scientific helm and let the younger and new leaders plan a new course for Pakistani science. Salam's contribution is only for the country but for himself. If he had remained in Pakistan then he would have never got Nobel Prize but would have become a deadwood himself. Please do not be myopic but look around on all national horizons and then form an opinion on the prevalent social attitude. Salam  for 20 years as a chief scientific adviser could not ( and failed to do what AQ Khan did in 5 years) and look what kind of treatment this great Nation afforded him ?.Also Chaudhry Rahmat Ali  and other free fighters, who dedicated their lives for the country. When Chaudhry Sahib came to Pakistan and was confined to house arrest and all his money was confiscated as a foreign exchange and he was made to runaway for his life. The poor guy died heart broken at 54 years of age in Cambridge. Salam did not go through any of these trepidations. How can you ignore other victims of this national shameless mistreatment to all other national heroes of the country.

 

I lived in Qadian and attended TI high school for three years and was exposed to many of the wonderful friends, who were very practicing Muslims and one thing that irks me their myopic outlook towards other branches of Umma. I was born as a sunni, spent three years in Qadian ( prayed behind Fazal-e-Umar and Mirza Nasir Ahmad), prayed with Wahabis in Lahore for 4 years and married a Shia girl and that experience has widened my outlook of life. And the moral is that I too have to run away from the dead wood and now live in USA.

 

You may not recall that I met you in Sheikhupura in one of your uncle's house long while ago and still vividly remember that event. Any way I am writing  books and will send you a few of them for your information. I am a practical man and like to solve problems without whining about the indifference of society. This is the way our society is and Ahmadies are not different in their attitude and prejudices. We all have social bent and distortion.

 

A lawyer friend of mine in Florida asked me hundreds of questions on the present state of the country and insisted  that give him  my opinion and my only reply was - " We are a brain damaged Nation". Nothing less nothing more.Period.

 

With best wishes.

 

Kamla Chaudhry in Chicago