Thanks to Sepoy over at Chapati Mystery, who translated A.Q. Khan’s first Urdu language column for the Daily Jang. The column has one of the harshest paragraphs on Pervez Musharraf I’ve ever seen in print:
Our bureaucracy and sycophants play a large role in making these false gods into God. Musharraf is F.A. pass (high-school equivalent), a qualification which we use to employ attendants. By a mistaken promotion, he became our commander-in-chief. It nauseated us to see such a dim-wit lecture the highly educated and the experts on economics, education, foreign policy, commerce and industry. And they would bow in front of him and wag their heads and exclaim at his intelligence. The way of an intelligent ruler (or Dictator) is that he doesn’t choose his companions on the basis of their flattery but on the basis of their expertise and their knowledge; he listens to their advice; and gives them all the help for the completion of important projects. There was this rumor going around about Musharraf that he complains to his Army friends, “I am saddened to see that if uneducated people cannot understand my arguments, it is ok, but even educated people cannot follow me.†The reason is obvious. The ability to pull the trigger of a gun and the ability to make an intelligent statement are clearly different. (link)
I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did; I found it strangely therapeutic to read. (For those who read Urdu, you can see the original here. Out of curiosity, since I’ve let my beginners’ Urdu slide since last December, what is the Urdu word being translated here as “dim-wit”?)
In the column you’ll also find Khan’s version of the story of how he got involved with communicating information about nuclear weaponry with countries like North Korea (according to this column, his main agenda was acquiring ballistic missile technology; he doesn’t say what he gave North Korea in return…). And he heaps praise on both Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
Just to be clear: A. Q. Khan is not to taken as trustworthy or believable (in case you’ve forgotten who he is, read the primer). But it’s all the same interesting to see him emerge with this stuff now that Musharraf is gone.
Real intelligence is stealing tehcnology and know how from another country and then having everyone call you a national hero.
Thanks for posting this – I don’t know what he expects by publishing such rhetoric…I don’t think this has earned him a ‘ballsy’ or brave reputation…actions speak louder than words — I feel like it’s the other way around in Pakistan.
I don’t understand his motivation for writing this. Is he trying to show that his grievance was over the loss of meritocracy in Pak govt. and not his anger over the abandonment of the Taliban post-9/11?
What a delightful little language biryani that title is!
urdu for dim-wit. How about bewaqoof! especially delicious if you use a little throat around the q.
bewaQooff!!
In my pendoo circles, they’d just say chutia – but I dont think AQ Khan is going to do that in Daily Jang.
5 · khoofia said
Sexist!?!?!
6 · Budugu said
contrary to popular perception old shaljam, no genitalia were referenced in the aforementioned expletive. it really does mean ‘foolish’ – just dont use it to chide your kid [although the possibilities are interesting].
A well read general is prob no better than ivory tower metallurgist on issues of economics, foreign policy, commerce and industry (exception maybe univ education but even armed folks are lot into technical education wrt to handling of sophisticated machinery and weapons).
Chutiya literally comes from ‘being like a chut’, i.e. vagina i.e. comparison is made to being stupid like a woman.
Ow! Talk about a little knowledge being dangerous. I’m really quite mortified. Thnx for the pointer Ardy.
Dr Khan is deperately trying to erase from our memory the huge humiliation that Musharraf orchestrated for him back in 2004 and to which he became an victim very easily and foolishly.
However, I think it is too late now.
He has shamelessly displayed, in front of all the world media, his true character of being a thief (the history of which can be traced back to the start of his career in Pakistan) and smuggler, to which we do not have even the tiniest doubt.
By saying this I am not defending Musharraf.
The cheap tactics of mud slinging, to which Dr Khan now seems determined to resort to, are hardly going to clean his past or, for that matter, are going to do further damage to Musharraf beyond what is done by the recent election in Pakistan.
The translation from the Pakistan paper “the News” is here http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=146201
Chapati Mystry’s translation sounds like a little sensationalized version of the translation by the News.
The Chapati translation says that “by mistake Musharraf was promoted”; the News translates the same line as “due to the promotion procedures in the army Musharraf was promoted” Not the same thing.
The News
The most recent example of this is of our ex-commando/dictator, General Musharraf, who considered himself above the law and lord of all he saw. (Har daur mein insaan nay dhaey hain mazalim/Har daur mein insaan khuda banta-raha-hai.) But being intoxicated by power does not turn a human being into a demigod, even though he might forget that there are powers greater than his. (Zalimon nay samajh ye rakkha he/ Jaisay dunya mein ab Khuda hi nahin.) Turning a dictator into a demigod has always been facilitated by the fact that they surround themselves with sycophants. General Musharraf’s formal education was no more than FA, and after doing some courses and due to the promotion procedures in the army, he managed to become army chief. It was nauseating to see him lecturing highly skilled people on subjects like economics, foreign affairs, power generation, agriculture, science and technology, higher education, subjects that he surely must have known nothing about.
The rumor part about the ability to pull trigger seem to be absent in the News translation.
Khan might have felt humiliated in 2004 when Musharraf treated him poorly, but that was the time when US wanted nothing more then Khan’s head, at least Musharraf didn’t sacrifice him.
Not that I trust Bush or Musharraf for my news; I do believe that Khan, who seems to consider himself a demigod, did believe that the bomb was a muslim bomb and provided assistance to other muslim countries in building a bomb.
the original has “kam-aqal” — and i think sepoy’s translation as dimwit is correct.
13 · Vishal [a troll whose comments have been deleted] said
An interesting account in this book – Deception : Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons by Adrian Levy, Cathy Scott-Clark, Catherine Scott-Clark
“stupid pakistani scientists”, vishal?
what is the need for this lashing out and hatred, vishal?
by the way, the topic of india’s moon mission is not at all relevant to this discussion, so i’m not sure why you inserted it here, but since you have already started, don’t you think its shameful that india spends millions of rupees on sending a mission to the moon when millions of india’s people are starving, without clean water, or access to health? why not fix problems on earth first?
16 · sapna said
Indian “Space” Research organisations job is not to build roads and give insurance to poor people. Is that what NASA is doing. If you have a problem with corruption in the respective Government department, show it at them. ISRO is using the funds “allocated” (less than 1% of GDP)to them in a smart way and doing exactly the stuff they should be doing. If only the other departments in the govt were half as efficient and smart as ISRO. Maybe you need to get more educated to understand the different jobs of different people. Meanwhile, why are you commenting here and browsing the internet when there are more problems on earth and possibly a lot of problems to solve very near you.
13 · Vishal said
If you knew how to read, you would.
p.s. You’re a dim-wit.
I’ve banned and deleted a few commenters.
We ban for handle-switching on the same thread. If you have something to say, be courteous to your peers and continue to use whatever “name” you have been using, vs. agreeing with yourself via a new handle.
Additionally, this is an American blog. Accusing us of neglecting India and ranting about what that says about our “motivations”” will get you nowhere, when it’s not our responsibility to post about India, its space program or whatever else. Find another blog to troll on.