Day: May 25, 2024

A massive 8th century BCE man-made platform discovered at a Catholic convent in central Israel several years ago, may be an ancient shrine for the Ark of the Covenant, which is referred to three times in the Qur’an. In the Qur’an the actual Ark of the Covenant is called ‘Tabut’ and the Covenant itself  is called ‘Sakina’, [Shekinah in Hebrew].

The Quran states, “And their Prophet [Samuel] said to them [the Children of Israel]: “A Sign of his [King Saul/Talut] authority is that there shall come to you the Ark (Tabut), and in it Sakina (a Covenant) with security from your Lord, and the relics left by the family of Moses and the family of Aaron, carried by angels. In this is a symbol for you if you indeed have faith”. (2:248)

The remains of the monumental elevated site were unearthed on a hilltop long associated with the location of Biblical Kiriath-Jearim, which was the 20-year home of the Ark of the Covenant until it was taken by King David and paraded to Jerusalem. 

Modern Kiryat Ye’arim is bordered by Abu Ghosh, an Israeli-Arab village six miles west of Jerusalem. Today the hill is carved up by terraced slopes dotted with olive trees, which provide an evergreen relief to the stone construction of the old 1906 convent, slightly later hostel, and the 1924 Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant. 

The archaeological dig is unusual because it is located on private Catholic church property under the protection of the French government. Today the site is occupied by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition.

Kiriath-Jearim is mentioned in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including a detailed story in the first book of Chronicles; in which King David jubilantly transports the ark to Jerusalem: “And David went up, with all of Israel, to Ba-allah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God… David and all the Israelites celebrated with all their might before God, playing songs, with harps, timbrels, cymbals and  trumpets” (13:5-8)  

Note that the Arabic name of the site, Deir el-ʿAzar, ” a variation of ‘The Monastery of Eleazar,’ probably the name of a Byzantine monastery on that spot, named in honor of Eleazar, who as the second High Priest, succeeding his father Prophet Aaron after he died, and also performed the ritual of the cow, referred to in the Qur’an (al-Baqara, v.67-71) He was also a nephew of Prophet Moses.  

The author of Tafsir Uthmani writes, “(The Ark of the Covenant, Tabut Sakina) contained some holy relics of Hazrat Musa and other Prophets. The Bani Israel (Children of Israel) put this box in the front line in times of war, and Allah gave them victory by its auspices.” (Tafsir Uthmani, Allama Shabbir Ahmad Uthmani, trans. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmad. Bombay: Taj Publishers, 1992. Vol. 1, p.140)

As the author of Tafsir Uthmani wrote, this Ark contained the Covenant (Sakina), assurance of help from the unseen, in the form of Prophetic relics. The relics it (the Ark) contained were connected to Prophetic authority, which represented the Vicegerency of God on earth by His Prophets and Messengers.

At the dig’s conclusion in a few years, the sisters will be faced with the decision of whether to open up the site to tourists. The nuns have been very accommodating, but as the discoveries mount, are increasingly concerned about their peace of mind.

Perhaps instead of a tourist site, it could become a joint Catholic/Islamic/Jewish institute of Sakina-Shekinah peace, trust and assurance from the three combined Abrahamic religions; so that we may live up to God’s holy words: 

“Righteous is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but  righteous is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, the Prophets; and gives wealth in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives Zakah; fulfilling their promise when they promise; and are patient in poverty, hardship and during battle. These are the ones who have been true, and it is these who are the righteous.” (Qur’an 2:177)

As the Qur’an states: “‘Believers, be steadfast in the cause of God and bear witness with justice. Do not let your enmity for others turn you away from justice. Deal justly; that is nearer to being God-fearing.” (5:8)

And as Prophet Isaiah states: “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. On that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”” (Isaiah 19:23-5) 

The eastern states of Europe have eluded the “Bear” only to be ensnared by the seductive lure of Europa. And the “Nymph” is intent on keeping them in her grasp.

The “Wall” was torn down 35 years ago; for the sake of Eastern Europe and its future it needs to be reassembled, on its western border.

Eastern Europe has troubles, and while some are internal, a fair measure of them are not. These externals are all driven by powerful political forces seeking to fulfill their own political agendas–and for the latter that’s about control–economic and political.

The attempted assassination of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico may not be an isolated situation. It may be, as some have suggested, a sign of instability in the political regimes of Eastern Europe. This could portend that stable democratic institutions have not been achieved in the region. Moreover, it could further point to the failure of the central focus the West set for itself after the Cold War: to stabilize (meaning democratize) the countries formerly under the influence of the old Soviet state. Dissatisfaction with political decisions should not lead to assassinations of prime ministers, if democratic institutions are stable. In Slovakia, this may not bode well for its future (Pantarhei, “The end of political stability in Europe,” September 21, 2022).

But the Fico incident could also reflect something potentially more sinister at work. And this could be a valid premise especially when external forces in the country want a political regime in power more amenable to the designs of the West.

Certainly, the assassination attempt is not an isolated occurrence endemic to just one region or state; instances like this have happened in more than a few European cities in recent years – from the former balkanized republics of Yugoslavia, Serbia, to northern countries like Sweden and Holland (Reuters, “Killings and attempted assassinations of leaders in Europe,” May 15, 2024). And history evinces how the West is not immune to the dark side of politics. US presidents McKinley, Lincoln and Kennedy all fell to such malevolence, and Reagan barely survived the ordeal. 

But the efforts to subvert the US, tragic as they were, were the product of specific circumstances endemic to domestic politics in the US at the time. They were of little import to the broad sweep of history. If history is our guide, however, an attack on a president or prime minister in Eastern Europe can, and has, led to serious regional, and potentially international, crises. 

But, as has been alluded to, the troubles in these countries are not all internal; they have become a battleground for powerful external forces seeking to exert a measure of control in them. And this occurs because East European countries are not sufficiently stable, historically, to keep in check foreign economic and political influence . They have not yet achieved a critical mass in the experience and expertise required of “nation-state building.” The latter requires acceptance by the vast majority of the populace as to the importance of creating and respecting democratic institutions. For a state, without the latter, protecting itself and its citizens is impossible. The question is: 

Can these countries succeed as democratic nation-states, given the external economic and political forces which plague them?

There is something striking about the reaction to the attempted assassination of Prime Minister Fico. In the European press and other Western centers of power the first comments made were not over local or even regional concerns; rather, they were about history–the history of an empire and the summer of 1914. Western political pundits immediately correlated the incident with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which triggered a series of reciprocal agreements precipitating the outbreak of the First World War. But it could also reveal something deeper, perhaps a signal that Eastern Europe, itself, is viewed from a historical perspective with its roots being grounded within empires (El Pais, “Robert Fico, or the unpredictable consequences of assassinations in Europe,” Guillermo Altares, May 16, 2024).

Perhaps, history is where politicians in the West turned to first, because they know that what happens in these states is not strictly an internal matter. And history illustrates what can happen when foreign elements are at work fomenting unrest. Powerful external forces, as was the case historically, are forever busy. Thus what happens in these states is often beyond their control. Their destiny is often influenced if not controlled or even determined by other more powerful nation-states with their own political agendas. And the latter are about control.

Prime Minister Fico has apparently survived the attack and will hopefully resume his duties as health permits. But resuming his responsibilities could be perilous when foreign elements consider East European states merely a means to further their own global agendas. We are referring in this instance to the United States and its British allies, for whom their concerns with Russia and China take precedence.  Beyond their rather shortsighted Anglocentric view of foreign relations, the worth of each state or region is predicated upon its utility in their aim of global hegemony. Foreign affairs is based on how other countries can be used like pawns in a “chess game” that has little to do with what is in the interest of these politically vulnerable East European countries.

Eastern nations experience a political divide with elitist politicians (as opposed to the balance of the populace) making decisions that affect a country’s future. The problem is that these decisions depend on the devise of a foreign power. And the verbal and written expression of this caprice is manifest through Western media. With the latter always willing to exercise its access to the public to manufacture consent in the minds of the populace. British newspaper, The Guardian, recently labeled on its front page Prime Minister Fico as a “Putin ally,”(The Guardian, “At a stroke, Slovakia could soon become Russia’s newest ally,” John Kampfner, September. 5, 2023).

It should also be noted that, one way or another, finance and economics play major roles in the foreign power dynamics brought to bear on East European countries. The IMF, World Bank and other Western institutions are utilized as instruments to effect economic and, therefore, political decisions to their own advantage. Western actors–individual, corporate and government–are simply buying the loyalty of a sector of the regional elite, which, when it comes to foreign policy, view the wishes of the population as irrelevant. 

With regard to the issue of finance, specifically, there is plenty of hypocrisy, especially from the West.  Georgia’s efforts to adopt its own law on the disclosure of foreign agent funding sources in the country has produced major pushback in the West, even to the point of threats. The law, of course, will make influence peddling through corruption much more difficult for those with money to spread around, and that would be the West (Reuters, “Georgian parliament passes ‘foreign agent’ bill, prompting US anger, new protests,” Felix Light, May 14, 2024).

But all this is only a consequence of the general geopolitical position of East European countries. The great powers of international politics were already established when former provinces or territories of this region became states. Russia, Germany, France and Britain at the beginning of the last century were empires with established political cultures and traditions. And even with the relatively young United States of America, the lack of a long history and traditions was addressed through its Enlightenment Era cultivation of statehood and its relatively secure “insular” position in world politics. Eastern Europe developed with no political culture or significant national tradition of its own. And the tumultuous events of the 20th century further distanced it from achieving any serious progress towards this end. 

In the period after the Second World War little more than “organized” chaos emerged in the region. Great divisiveness prevailed wherein many supporters of the Third Reich or former government officials fled to the West and actually engaged in subversive activities from abroad. From the era of Stalin until the “Wall” came down, Eastern Europe had no democratic institutions developed or processes created to perpetuate them. 

Any feelings giving rise to elation or hope surrounding the post-1989 period healed neither old wounds nor political divisiveness.  They merely brought to power individuals who were thoroughly disenchanted (or disgusted) with the old communist regimes. The countries of Eastern Europe, therefore, experienced being psychologically transported from one sphere of influence to another, but without any meaningful change for them internally. These states remained the same incomplete and somewhat dependent countries they had been for decades. Since then they have only become more pronounced in their dependency on elements who promise prosperity and security but have delivered little of either.

One can readily appreciate how, given the history of the East, the politics of leaders like a Robert Fico or a Viktor Orban are a major challenge (if not enemy) not only to external control from Washington or London, but to the whole pattern of political life in the region. Leaders with nationalistic hearts, such as these,  are not just important for Eastern Europe, they are an imperative–even if they are historically an anomaly. East European nations are at a turning point in their history. Either stay with the status quo of history or reclaim their identity. To do the former is easy. But to do the latter they must rely on being the courageous people they have always been and rid themselves of their historical dependency on others. George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “Salvation…what price salvation?” The East Europeans have a choice to make about their identity and who they are:

Master of their own consciousness 
or slave to another’s 

I followed the news item where, during a talk at JNU, Delhi, the critic and theorist Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak attempted to correct a student who mispronounced the name of W. E. B. Du Bois, a prominent thinker whose influence can be seen in almost all major anti-colonial movements across the world. Apparently, the question that the student wished to ask was: “Spivak claims to be middle class. She said in her lecture that Du Bois was an upper-class elite. How is she as a great granddaughter of Bihari Lal Bhaduri, a close friend of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, supposed to be middle class?” He also referred to himself as the “Founding Professor of the Centre for Brahmin Studies”. 

However rude the student’s attempts to pose the question might have seemed, I think Spivak should have responded to him. If the student is accusing her of being privileged, I don’t think, in itself, privilege is a bad thing. Nothing is wrong with being born into privilege. It is what you do with your position of privilege that really matters. If she’s a professor at Columbia University, it’s obvious that she enjoys a certain amount of privilege. But, to be fair to her, she used her privilege correctly. She dedicated her writing to deconstructing power. This is not to suggest that she did not earn her global reputation as a formidable intellectual through hard work and commitment. 

Therefore, for an 82-year-old woman professor to be asked the question, implicitly presupposing that she is concealing her class, is a bit too much to take. She responded to his rudeness with a subtler kind of assertiveness that manifested in the way she corrected his pronunciation and evaded the question. I don’t blame her. No one likes to be treated with condescension. Someone should tell the boy that he cannot treat people as if they owe him an explanation for who they are and what their background is. Nothing gives you the right to ask me a question with regard to who I am unless I have given you such a right. She is an 82-year-old woman scholar. The least he could do is pose his question a little respectfully. Would he speak in the same manner if she belonged to a marginal community? Not that it makes it any better. Then, why talk to her as if she’s a five-year old who is caught hiding a sweet in her hand? 

This tendency to constantly attack people for belonging to a certain community or for their social background is popular in universities which have a leftist culture. How is it my fault that I am born in a certain caste? How is it your fault that you are born in a certain caste? It works both ways. The Brahmin did not commit a sin by being born a Brahmin for exactly the same reason that the Dalit did not commit a sin by being born a Dalit. This is the reason why I am opposed to the use of the word ‘Brahmanical’. The more appropriate word is ‘casteism’ or ‘casteist.’ 

Brahmin is both a caste and a varna. If ‘Brahmanical’ means upper caste supremacism, why should it be restricted to Brahmins? Are there no members in other social groups who are casteist? Some of them even fall under the category of OBCs. In my view, ‘Brahmanical’ is a term of abuse that is used randomly to refer to people whose views we assume represent mainstream Hindu thought and culture. I remember an honest and upright Muslim professor being called ‘Brahmanical.’ And the man was anything but that.

This culture of spewing venom against professors and students in universities through the use of the term ‘Brahmanical’ is unpardonable to say the least. It’s a form of harassment which, in its extreme form, is called persecution. Indian public universities are fountains of toxicity where there is a group of teachers and students, self-professed activists, who make it their full-time business to attack people in the most disrespectful terms possible. The justification for it is the caste and sometimes the minority card. ‘I come from an oppressed community.’ ‘I’ll abuse you.’ ‘I’ll file atrocity cases against you.’ ‘I’ll basically spoil your reputation and make you look like a casteist or a communal person’. This ‘perpetual victim syndrome’ (PVS) of marginal communities, which sometimes includes minorities as well, is the bane of Indian universities.

From my own experience, in 2016, an extremely toxic student filed an SC/ST atrocity case against me in the nearest police station because he claimed that I evicted him from the English and Foreign Languages University campus on Ambedkar Jayanti. Until the police officer called and told me on phone that an atrocity case had been filed against me, I did not know that the boy was a Dalit. There was nothing in his appearance or name which vaguely suggested he was Dalit. Caste, unlike race, is a hidden signifier. The other thing is that he never called me to find out if I had actually given a verbal instruction to the security officer in question. The security officer, a literal-minded man, made the decision on his own. Had he asked me, of course, there is no way I would have asked him to evict the student from the campus on a special occasion such as Ambedkar Jayanti. The student did everything possible to destroy my reputation in as many ways as possible. Needless to say he had ample support from so-called leftist teachers and students from a certain department that professes to teach culture and from other universities as well. Likewise, with some other students who lied through their teeth and got away with the online abuse that I was subjected to, because, as a rule, I don’t like to get back at students for their stupidity.

The Rohith Vemula case of a Dalit student who committed suicide in 2016, was closed recently and then reopened with some pressure on the Congress government in Telangana. I don’t intend to go into the details of whether he was or wasn’t a Dalit. What is important is that he took his own life which in itself is a tragedy. However, I would like to go with the reason for the suicide as stated in the note left behind: “No one is responsible for my this act of killing myself. No one has instigated me, whether by their acts or by their words to this act. This is my decision and I am the only one responsible for this.”

(I’m not a BJP supporter by any definition of the term. This is the party that is directly and indirectly responsible for me losing my job. The VC who removed me from service used ABVP, RSS and BJP connections to ensure that there was no response from the Ministry of Education with regard to complaints on my removal from service. The VC even went to the extent of taking an article of mine written in 2013, where I was critical of the hanging of Afzal Guru, and sent it to every ABVP, RSS and BJP personage he knew and he even used it even in the High Court of Telangana to spoil my case, calling me a “communist” and “urban naxal”, only to cover up his own criminal misdeeds. He succeeded while I lost my job.)

Therefore, I have no special affection for the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hyderabad (where Rohith Vemula studied) Prof. Appa Rao Podile, the BJP member of parliament, Mr. Bandaru Dattatreya or Ms. Smriti Irani, who happened to be the education minister. Certainly there were issues on the campus between the right-wing ABVP students and the Ambedkar Students’ Association (ASA). Yet, I’ve no doubt in my mind that all of the accused in this case were innocent of Rohith Vemula’s suicide. Prof. Appa Rao Podile was virtually subjected to every abuse imaginable, short of burning him at the stake. Again, the man mishandled the issue by not calling for a dialogue between both groups of students. But, to crucify a man for no fault of his and ensure that his reputation is destroyed for life is a bit too much in my view.

This is the kind of poisonous culture behind the arrogant casteist epithet, “Founding Professor of the Centre for Brahmin Studies”. Members of the upper castes among teachers, a disgruntled lot who like to pretend that they are beyond caste, and bleeding-heart white liberals with a savior complex, are usually behind this kind of bullshit with teachers and students from marginalized groups. The bottom line is that you must get a degree, earn a position and use your position to correct discrimination wherever it happens. You cannot alienate everybody by playing the ‘lower’ caste and the victim card all the time. You cannot be filing false cases against people who belong to other groups simply because you are a full-time activist who has made it your business to target people who are opposed to your views.

There are white American and European Christians who happen to be racist. That’s not the fault of Christianity. There are Hindus who are casteist and their casteism needs to be challenged. It doesn’t mean you call every Hindu a casteist or see Hinduism synonymous with casteism. It doesn’t mean you randomly target people because in your mind you are convinced that they are casteist. What sort of a meaningless term is ‘Brahmanical’? Or another equally nonsensical term ‘savarna’? It’s offensive and reverse casteist as well. There are good people everywhere (though in significantly small numbers) just as every community has its share of hardened criminals. Why specially target Brahmins or any group for that matter? Why say that Hinduism and the caste system are one and the same thing? They are not. I know a lot of devout Hindus who are anything but casteist, either in their private or their public lives.

I think it’s high time that Dalits and minorities, especially in universities, realize that this culture of spewing venom on members of other groups is going to work against their interests, both in the short and in the long run. They are going to isolate themselves and this is going to damage their progress in a big way. Fighting discrimination is not a bad thing. But it has to be fought in a just way. Not through abuse and by making constant claims of victimization without concrete reasons. Exclusion cannot be answered with exclusion, but with inclusion. Just as you want to be trusted and respected it is only fair that the other person expects the same amount of trust and respect from you. But I blame their leadership and their so-called spokespersons for burning bridges between groups. If communal and caste discrimination would come to an end a lot of these people would be without jobs. They made their careers by playing the caste and victim card. That too is privilege in a way. Why would they want to give it up now?

Youm-e-Takbeer, meaning “The Day of Greatness,” is celebrated annually as a reminder of Pakistan’s difficult but necessary decision to ensure its defence despite immense international pressure.

28 May 2024 will mark the 26th anniversary of that pivotal moment in Pakistan’s history. On this day in 1998, Pakistan conducted nuclear tests in the Chagai district of Balochistan, a decision made in response to India’s nuclear tests earlier that month. This event was not just a demonstration of military might but a significant turning point in Pakistan’s security strategy and regional dynamics, symbolizing the nation’s resolve to protect its territorial integrity, independence, and sovereignty while maintaining strategic balance in South Asia. By successfully conducting these tests, Pakistan became the seventh nuclear power in the world. 

India’s nuclear tests left Pakistan with no choice but to display its nuclear capability to restore strategic stability. Following India’s tests in May 1998, Indian politicians and the public believed they had a nuclear monopoly in the region. Leaders like India’s Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani issued thinly veiled threats to Pakistan, urging it to reconsider its policies, especially regarding Kashmir, and to adopt a more conciliatory stance considering India’s newfound military power. Consequently, without international assurances against the nuclear threat from India, Pakistan felt compelled to proceed with its tests.

The responsibility for the nuclear arms competition in South Asia primarily rests with India. Pakistan has consistently proposed various measures to India aimed at maintaining peace and nuclear restraint in the region. Since 1974, Pakistan has suggested numerous initiatives, including the establishment of a nuclear-free zone, mutual inspections of nuclear facilities, and adherence to non-proliferation treaties. These proposals culminated in the suggestion of a Strategic Nuclear Restraint Regime in 2011, focusing on missile restraint, peaceful conflict resolution, and conventional balance. However, India has refused to engage in any dialogue regarding these proposals.

According to the SIPRI 2024 report, India remains the world’s largest arms importer, developing a range of nuclear arms to assert its regional dominance. Conversely, Pakistan’s leadership advocates for peace and security in the region through arms control rather than an arms race. Pakistan actively participates in global initiatives to reinforce international arms control, non-proliferation, and disarmament regulations, adhering to modern guidelines on nuclear safety, security, and export controls.

Despite being barred from global nuclear cooperation; Pakistan has made impressive strides in developing indigenous nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The country has effectively harnessed nuclear technology in various civilian sectors, including energy production, healthcare, agriculture, and research and development. Pakistan has set its sights on achieving a nuclear power generation capacity of 40,000 MW by 2050 under its Nuclear Energy Vision, with plans to deploy 32 nuclear power plants to fulfil the nation’s energy requirements. This ambitious goal is pursued under the vigilant supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has consistently commended Pakistan for maintaining exemplary safety and security standards at its nuclear power plants. During his visit to Pakistanin February 2023, DG IAEA Rafael Grossi lauded the world-class safety measures implemented at Pakistani nuclear power plants.

As an energy-deficient nation and the 7th most vulnerable country to climate change, Pakistan urgently needs to transition to clean and environmentally sustainable energy sources. In 2023, nuclear power plants supplied 22,372 million kWh, constituting 17.2% of Pakistan’s total electricity mix. However, expanding nuclear energy could significantly address the country’s growing energy needs without worsening environmental degradation.

The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) operates 19 nuclear medicine centres in the healthcare sector, providing state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment services to over 800,000 patients annually. These centres play a crucial role in treating chronic diseases, showcasing the substantial impact of nuclear technology on public health.

Agriculture, a cornerstone of Pakistan’s economy, has also greatly benefited from nuclear technology. By applying nuclear techniques, particularly radiation-induced mutations, PAEC has developed several high-yield, disease-resistant crop varieties, including wheat, cotton, and rice. These advancements have markedly improved agricultural productivity. Furthermore, nuclear technology has enhanced pest control methods, plant nutrition, and food preservation, significantly boosting the agricultural sector’s overall efficiency.

To maximize the benefits of its civilian nuclear program, Pakistan should establish a comprehensive framework that promotes the indigenization of nuclear power generation and fosters public-private partnerships in developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Reducing reliance on foreign technologies, particularly in the health and power sectors, will enhance national self-sufficiency. Close collaboration with the IAEA can facilitate the transfer of international expertise to various sub-sectors where nuclear technology can have a profound socio-economic impact. Additionally, Pakistan can leverage the IAEA platform to share its indigenous nuclear advancements with the global community, supported by the robust oversight of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA).

While 28th May is a day to celebrate Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent capabilities, the vital contributions of peaceful nuclear technology to the country’s socio-economic development also deserve greater recognition. Given the persistent regional instability and the prevailing narrative focused on nuclear weapons in South Asia, the achievements of Pakistan’s civilian nuclear program often remain in the shadows. It is essential to educate the public about the diverse and beneficial applications of nuclear technology in fields such as medicine and agriculture.

Developed countries have long benefited from nuclear power, thanks to stringent safety standards and advanced technologies that minimize the risk of nuclear accidents. Pakistan, adhering to global safety protocols, has maintained exemplary safety records at its nuclear power plants for over four decades. This proven record suggests that Pakistan is well-positioned to increase its reliance on nuclear energy, providing a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to its energy challenges. By exploring all available options, including international cooperation and technical assistance from the IAEA, Pakistan can fully harness the potential of nuclear technology to drive socio-economic progress.

Thus, Youm-e-Takbeer is a significant day in Pakistan’s history, symbolizing the nation’s commitment to a robust defence strategy in response to India’s aggression. Pakistan remains dedicated to promoting peace and stability both regionally and globally, upholding principles of mutual respect, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence with its neighbours and the international community. By embracing a holistic approach that balances defence imperatives with socio-economic aspirations, Pakistan can continue to secure its future while contributing positively to regional and global peace.