Hundreds of hard-liners rallied yesterday in support of Pakistani nuclear scientists detained on suspicion of having profited from selling nuclear technology to Iran, hailing them as ânational heroes.â
| For selling the country's secrets? |
Supporters of the religious coalition Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal drove a truck stacked with megaphones through the center of Rawalpindi, a city near Islamabad, bringing traffic to a halt. They held banners reading: âStop terror against national heroesâ and âAtomic power saved Pakistan.â
Speakers criticized President Gen. Pervez Musharrafâs government, saying it had caved in to foreign countries, including the United States, by leveling accusations against scientists who had helped produce the Muslim worldâs first nuclear bomb as a deterrent against rival India. âWe will never accept the blame being leveled against the nuclear scientists,â said MMA leader Qazi Hussain Ahmed. âThe nuclear heroes made these nuclear weapons for us â thatâs why India never dared to touch us... Even if Dr. Khan has millions of dollars in his accounts we donât care ... heâs a national hero, we love him,â Ahmed told the crowd.
| Such devotion is so... touching. |
|