RAWALPINDI: Former Secretary to PM Rai Riaz Hussain on Sunday said that in response to Indian Atomic blasts, there was a lot of pressure on former Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif when he took the bold decision to conduct a nuclear explosion despite all foreign intimidations and offers.
He said this while addressing the golden jubilee awards ceremony of the literary, cultural and social organization Bazam-e- Ahbab-i-Qalam at the Punjab Arts Council here.
Rai Riaz said the Americans had offered 5 billion dollars to not hold nuclear tests in retaliation to India’s atomic blast.
He said that after nuclear blasts in India, Muslims were treated badly, but the nuclear blasts were a great gift to the nation.
“If Pakistan had not been an atomic power, the situation would have been different today,” he added.
Rai Riaz while appreciating Bazam-e- Ahbab-i-Qalam said that it was a matter of happiness that the organisation had started its journey fifty years ago in the field of science and literature and today it was celebrating its golden jubilee.
40 years ago, he said in the Municipal Library of Rawalpindi, there were more than 28,000 rare books, but unfortunately due to lack of interest it was affected badly.
Speaking on the occasion, he paid rich tribute to the writers and poets. He said that Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal gave the concept of Khudi to poets and writers which was a great asset of an era.
In the ceremony, more than fifty poets and writers were awarded awards for their services.
Poet Qayyum Tahir, Tahir Hanafi, Dr Jameel Yusuf, Naseem-e-Sahar, senior journalist Nawaz Raza and other poets and people from different fields participated.
Academic and literary personalities, journalists and personalities from different walks of life also participated in the event.