The Untold Story of How Pakistan Saved Its Nuclear Program Project 706 | Ummat Digital

Everyone knows Pakistan's nuclear bomb story and how the country tested its nuclear weapons on May 28, 1998, the day celebrated as Youm-e-Takbeer. But this is a different story. Very few know how Pakistan fought Indian and Israeli attempts to stop or dismantle its nuclear program at various points in time, including the night before May 28, 1998 tests. The story becomes all the more important as the world today rushes to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. Pakistan faced all these odds and many more but managed to obtain the first and so far only "Islamic bomb". From the 1980s plots to mirror Israel’s attack on Iraq's Osirak reactor, to the massive mobilization of Operation Brasstacks, and finally to "Operation Bidar 98"—where Pakistani F-16 pilots were ordered to shoot down their own transport planes if hijacked, this documentary takes a deep dives into some of the untold chapters of history. We also explore how a deep-seated "Brahmin elite mindset" led Indian planners to believe that Pakistani scientists lacked the industrial and intellectual depth to master uranium enrichment. While the world underestimated Pakistan, Dr. A.Q. Khan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and General Zia-ul-Haq played a masterclass in global deception. The documentary features interviews with Mushahid Hussain, a senior politicians, Javed Siddiq, a veteran journalist from Nawai-e-Waqt, and Dr NM Butt, a nuclear scientist.