Pakistan announced a public holiday on May 28 after recently declared the commemorated day as “Youm-E-Takbeer” (day of grandeur). But why is this day so important for our nation?
On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five simultaneous underground nuclear trials at the Ras Koh hills in the Chagai district in Balutchistan.
CODED CHAGAI-I, these tests marked the first public demonstration of Pakistan of its capacity for nuclear weapons, which makes it the seventh nation in the world and the first Muslim majority country to have nuclear weapons.
This decision came in direct response to the nuclear tests of Pokhran-II India, carried out earlier in May of the same year.
Two days after the first nuclear test, on May 30, 1998, Pakistan carried out another nuclear test, named Chagai-II.
Pakistani tests have encountered an international conviction, leading to the adoption of resolution 1172 of the United Nations Security Council and economic sanctions of the great powers, including the United States and Japan.
Despite the international pressure, the day is celebrated each year in Pakistan as Youm-E-Takbeer, commemorating the realization as a central moment for national defense and regional stability.
This feat is attributed to the late Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, a Pakistani nuclear physicist and metallurgical engineer, who is venerated at home as a hero to build the first atomic bomb of the Muslim world.
This year is expected to mark the 27th anniversary of the Pivot event, and it becomes even more significant because it arrives days after the armed forces of Pakistan succeeded “the Bunyan-Um-Marsoos operation” in response to the unrealing attacks of India against innocent civilians in Pakistan.
