Pakistan shuns physicist who helped the country's nuclear program because of being linked to 'God pa - Polidicks

[QUOTE]ISLAMABAD (AP) — The pioneering work of Abdus Salam, Pakistan's only Nobel laureate, helped lead to the apparent discovery of the subatomic "God particle" last week. But the late physicist is no hero at home, where his name has been stricken from school textbooks. Praise within Pakistan for Salam, who also guided the early stages of the country's nuclear program, faded decades ago as Muslim fundamentalists gained power. He belonged to the Ahmadi sect, which has been persecuted by the government and targeted by Taliban militants who view its members as heretics. Their plight — along with that of Pakistan's other religious minorities, such as Shiite Muslims, Christians and Hindus — has deepened in recent years as hardline interpretations of Islam have gained ground and militants have stepped up attacks against groups they oppose. Most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims. Salam, a child prodigy born in 1926 in what was to become Pakistan after the partition of British-controlled India, won more than a dozen international prizes and honors. In 1979, he was co-winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on the so-called Standard Model of particle physics, which theorizes how fundamental forces govern the overall dynamics of the universe. He died in 1996. Salam and Steven Weinberg, with whom he shared the Nobel Prize, independently predicted the existence of a subatomic particle now called the Higgs boson, named after a British physicist who theorized that it endowed other particles with mass, said Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani physicist who once worked with Salam. It is also known as the "God particle" because its existence is vitally important toward understanding the early evolution of the universe. Physicists in Switzerland stoked worldwide excitement Wednesday when they announced they have all but proven the particle's existence. This was done using the world's largest atom smasher at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, near Geneva. "This would be a great vindication of Salam's work and the Standard Model as a whole," said Khurshid Hasanain, chairman of the physics department at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Salam wielded significant influence in Pakistan as the chief scientific adviser to the president, helping to set up the country's space agency and institute for nuclear science and technology. Salam also assisted in the early stages of Pakistan's effort to build a nuclear bomb, which it eventually tested in 1998. Salam's life, along with the fate of the 3 million other Ahmadis in Pakistan, drastically changed in 1974 when parliament amended the constitution to declare that members of the sect were not considered Muslims under Pakistani law. Ahmadis believe their spiritual leader, Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who died in 1908, was a prophet of God — a position rejected by the government in response to a mass movement led by Pakistan's major Islamic parties. Islam considers Muhammad the last prophet and those who subsequently declared themselves prophets as heretics. All Pakistani passport applicants must sign a section saying the Ahmadi faith's founder was an "impostor" and his followers are "non-Muslims." Ahmadis are prevented by law in Pakistan from "posing as Muslims," declaring their faith publicly, calling their places of worship mosques or performing the Muslim call to prayer. They can be punished with prison and even death. Salam resigned from his government post in protest following the 1974 constitutional amendment and eventually moved to Europe to pursue his work. In Italy, he created a center for theoretical physics to help physicists from the developing world. Although Pakistan's then-president, Gen. Zia ul-Haq, presented Salam with Pakistan's highest civilian honor after he won the Nobel Prize, the general response in the country was muted. The physicist was celebrated more enthusiastically by other nations, including Pakistan's archenemy, India. Despite his achievements, Salam's name appears in few textbooks and is rarely mentioned by Pakistani leaders or the media. By contrast, fellow Pakistani physicist A.Q. Khan, who played a key role in developing the country's nuclear bomb and later confessed to spreading nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya, is considered a national hero. Khan is a Muslim. Officials at Quaid-i-Azam University had to cancel plans for Salam to lecture about his Nobel-winning theory when Islamist student activists threatened to break the physicist's legs, said his colleague Hoodbhoy. "The way he has been treated is such a tragedy," said Hoodbhoy. "He went from someone who was revered in Pakistan, a national celebrity, to someone who could not set foot in Pakistan. If he came, he would be insulted and could be hurt or even killed." The president who honored Salam would later go on to intensify persecution of Ahmadis, for whom life in Pakistan has grown even more precarious. Taliban militants attacked two mosques packed with Ahmadis in Lahore in 2010, killing at least 80 people. "Many Ahmadis have received letters from fundamentalists since the 2010 attacks threatening to target them again, and the government isn't doing anything," said Qamar Suleiman, a spokesman for the Ahmadi community. For Salam, not even death saved him from being targeted. Hoodbhoy said his body was returned to Pakistan in 1996 after he died in Oxford, England, and was buried under a gravestone that read "First Muslim Nobel Laureate." A local magistrate ordered that the word "Muslim" be erased.[/quote] Source: [url]http://news.yahoo.com/pakistan-shuns-physicist-linked-god-particle-185057298.html[/url]

Never go full retard. You went full retard, Pakistan.

And this is why the middle east is no longer the center of scientific knowledge.

[QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;36685461]And this is why the middle east is no longer the center of scientific knowledge.[/QUOTE] Sorry the burst your bubble, but Pakistan is Asian.

[QUOTE=Nikota;36685479]Sorry the burst your bubble, but Pakistan is Asian.[/QUOTE] snip, give me boxes, not a clever man

[QUOTE=Nikota;36685479]Sorry the burst your bubble, but Pakistan is Asian.[/QUOTE] I was referring to the trend of paranoid religious zealotry stifling scientific growth and causing cultural stagnation, specifically in primarily Islamic countries, but yeah if you want to toot your geography horn then go right ahead.

[QUOTE=Nikota;36685479]Sorry the burst your bubble, but Pakistan is Asian.[/QUOTE] I'm going to say this in every thread this comes up in until everyone is informed: "Middle East" is a [B]strictly arbitrary term[/B]. It can extend from just the core of Arabia/Jordan/Syra/Palestine to as far as Afghanistan in the east and Algeria to the west. It's more based on culture than geography. Besides, geographically, there is no such thing as a "middle east". That region is South West Asia.

Title is so misleading.... the reason he is/was treated this way was because of his religious beliefs, not because he predicted the existence of a God particle (which btw, shouldnt be a problem for theists because there is nothing Godly about the particle)

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;36685617]"Middle East" is a [B]strictly arbitrary term[/B]. [/QUOTE] In the same way Europe is.

sensationalist headline

[QUOTE=Nikota;36685479]Sorry the burst your bubble, but Pakistan is Asian.[/QUOTE] all of the middle east is technically asia. gg.

[QUOTE=Nikota;36685479]Sorry the burst your bubble, but Pakistan is Asian.[/QUOTE] Fuck, anything between China and Greece is the Middle East. Don't let any douche bag scholar tell you differently.

[QUOTE=Amplar;36685941]all of the middle east is technically asia. gg.[/QUOTE] egypt is a part of the middle east the term is completely arbitrary anyway

[QUOTE=Dori;36685991]egypt is a part of the middle east the term is completely arbitrary anyway[/QUOTE] No [img]http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/menewzz.gif[/img]

[QUOTE=Mr. Smartass;36686011]No [img]http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/menewzz.gif[/img][/QUOTE] from the [url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/me.htm]source[/url] of your image [quote]Here we attempt to show the modern definition of the Middle East, but in the world of geography, there are often many answers (or personal or political opinions) to what appears to be a simple question.[/quote] there is no singular definition of the middle east

[QUOTE=Dori;36686029]from the [url=http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/me.htm]source[/url] of your image there is no singular definition of the middle east[/QUOTE] [quote] The countries of the Middle East are [B]all part of Asia[/B], but for clarity reasons we geographically show them here as a separate landmass. [/quote]

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Middle_East[/url]

[QUOTE=zombays;36685500]Japan is where the intellectualism of Asia mostly is. South Korea is going full retard lately and therefore can't be classified as smart[/QUOTE] Yeah man 100% of all South Koreans are dumb China and Taiwan are just insignificant pawns compared to the greatness of Sacred Holy Nippon!/1/1!11 Seriously this is generalizing on a grand scale

[QUOTE=zombays;36685500]Japan is where the intellectualism of Asia mostly is. South Korea is going full retard lately and therefore can't be classified as smart[/QUOTE] do you have any idea what you are talking about? no. no you do not

Damn savages

You know your country is completely retarded when it pulls out something like this... Guys why are we discussing about where Pakistan is and not about how stupid this is?

[QUOTE=dass;36687988]You know your country is completely retarded when it pulls out something like this... Guys why are we discussing about where Pakistan is and not about how stupid this is?[/QUOTE] From wiki, it also mentioned how the scientist Salam regretted his reaction over the 1974 amendment. If he chose to leave Pakistan over this, he should be greatful he atleast got the honorable mention if not the text book recognition, imo.

[QUOTE=Dori;36685991]egypt is a part of the middle east the term is completely arbitrary anyway[/QUOTE] I think it is Sinai's fault.

Technically all of Middle-East belongs to the Eurasian super continent.

pls stop calling it god particle

Oh those crazy fundamentalists are at it again, my favorite excerpt from the story: [quote]Officials at Quaid-i-Azam University had to cancel plans for Salam to lecture about his Nobel-winning theory when Islamist student activists threatened to break the physicist's legs, said his colleague...[/quote] It's like the Mafia, only they don't wear suits, and instead of extortion they use religion.

Religion!

The "God Particle" is a terrible name for it. If I recall right, the guys at CERN hate the name as well.

[QUOTE=zombays;36685500]Japan is where the intellectualism of Asia mostly is. South Korea is going full retard lately and therefore can't be classified as smart[/QUOTE] Spoken like someone who's never left the USA.

The official name is the Higgs Boson, don't they realise god particle is just a nick name?