When Pakistan Shunned Dr Abdus Salam of advancing its Space Programme
With India’s successful landing on the moon on Wednesday, social media is discussing how Pakistan is lagging behind its neighbour in the field of science and technology. While the factors that contributed to this lack of progress in scientific research in Pakistan are multifold, religious bigotry has been one of the main hurdles. Pakistan’s first Nobel laureate Dr. Abdus Salman, who was once leading the country’s efforts to develop its space and nuclear programmes and had founded Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Corporation (SUPARCO), was later shunned due to his Ahmadi faith.
In 1961, Dr Abdus Salam collaborated with late Pakistan Air Force (PAF) commodore WJM Turowicz to set up SUPARCO. When SUPARCO was established, its founders and scientists who were part of it worked tirelessly to develop scientific research in Pakistan. Pakistani scientists were connected with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It was expected that within a decade or two, Pakistan would be able to send its own satellites into space. But this dream soon came crashing down.
Dr Abdus Salam’s collaborations with NASA eventually stopped after he was snubbed with the Ahmadi community being declared non-Muslim through an amendment to the Constitution in 1974. Salam then left Pakistan for England, orphaning the country’s space programmes and quitting his efforts of developing scientific research in Pakistan. Thereafter, the government of Pakistan lost interest in improving Pakistan’s space programme with the help of international researchers and scientists.
Due to his Ahmadi faith, Dr Abdus Salam was never duly acknowledged and celebrated for his achievements despite being the country’s first Nobel prize winner. Salam passed away in 1996 in Oxford, United Kingdom, and was laid to rest in his hometown, the Ahmadi majority city of Rabwah. The epitaph on his tomb initially said “First Muslim Nobel Laureate”, but the then government of Pakistan removed the word “Muslim” and left only his name on the headstone. The way Salam was shunned for his religious identity in spite of his dream to take Pakistan’s space programme to new heights reflects how bigotry and extremism has always cost Pakistan dearly.
Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinion of the author.