THE MAN BEHIND THE BOMB

THE TRIBUNE
December 9, 2004

The man behind the bomb
by K.S.Parthasarathy

DURING May 1990, I attended the College on Atmospheric Boundary Layer Physics at the erstwhile International Centre for Theoretical Physics at Trieste, Italy. There I met Professor Abdus Salam, the Nobel Laureate and the then Director of the Centre.

On May 25, I sought an interview with him. “Professor does not meet with visitors these days”, his secretary asserted in a protective tone. I requested her to talk to Professor Salam about me.

Within minutes, she came out and took me in. “Just five minutes, not a second more”, she cautioned me on the way to his spacious room. Professor Salam got up from his seat with great difficulty and held me tightly in a “Punjabi” style hug. He was suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

I felt embarrassed that I could not respond promptly to his endearments, expressed in a mixture of Hindi and probably Urdu. He realised my predicament! “Oh, you are from the South!” he exclaimed. “I understand Hindi and can speak in Hindi”, I protested mildly.

He was very friendly. He was deeply concerned with nuclear proliferation in the subcontinent. He wished to persuade Pakistan to abandon its nuclear ambitions. He recalled his discussions on this topic with Dr Vikram Sarabhai. Dr Salam then had no doubt about Pakistan’s nuclear potential.

This is contrary to Mr K.Subramanyam’s inference based on a casual talk he had with Professor Salam in August 1985. Apparently, Salam then doubted the capability of A.Q. Khan to make nuclear weapons for Pakistan.

Professor Salam certainly knew of the nuclear developments in Pakistan. He did not tell me whether he had any clout with the then rulers of Pakistan. On 24 January 1972, Professor Salam attended the meeting in which Mr Z.A.Bhutto asked his scientists to commit themselves to develop nuclear weapons. Salam did not support the move.

Reportedly, he attended another meeting held in March 1974 to initiate what was declared as a work of great national importance. He was then the Adviser for Science and Technology to the Government of Pakistan. The participants concealed the weapons objective and never used the word “bomb”.

I found it extremely difficult to lead him away from any topic other than nuclear proliferation. Finally, I asked him why Italy which produced eminent nuclear scientists like Enrico Fermi, turned away from nuclear power. (In 1988, Italians through a referendum decided to abandon nuclear power). “Don’t you know?” he smiled mischievously and added, “Some Italians think that nuclear radiation may make them impotent!”. He suggested that the facts about nuclear power should be publicised to dispel such myths.

My brief courtesy call lasted 45 minutes! I could not figure out why the gave me a long interview. That I am from India might have helped. Later, his secretary told me about some of his idiosyncrasies! Most of it was gossip. Admittedly, that is not worth another middle column. ■