KARACHI (Staff Report) – Although the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz takes credit for making Pakistan the first Muslim nuclear state in the world, it has remained oblivious to the miseries of the boy who named this day.
“It is our national responsibility to be prepared to protect the country from internal and external threats,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in his message on ‘Youm-i-Takbeer’, the official celebration of Pakistan first successful nuclear test.
But the government, especially the ruling party (PML-N), has completely forgotten Mujtaba Rafiq – the then eight-year-old boy who proposed the name for the day.
Youm-i-Takbeer is observed to mark the historic day when Pakistan tested its nuclear weapons on May 28, 1998 in Chagi, Balochistan, 17 days after India proclaimed that it had become a nuclear power. Following the nuclear tests some 18 years ago, the Pakistan Television (PTV) asked the nation to propose a name for the day.
A third-grader from Karachi, Mujtaba Rafiq proposed this name which was approved by the Government of Pakistan. Rafiq, who is 24-year-old now, did not get anything in reward but a letter of thanks from Prime Minister House.
Since then, Rafiq is living a miserable life, and has been selling fruits in a Karachi market.
Read more: Thousands of masters degree holders apply for peon, gardener posts in government
