New Delhi: Ever since tensions between India and Pakistan escalated, there has been one man who is increasingly visible in the media. He is Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). He is seen addressing media briefing more often now, than earlier. This increased appearance in public has shifted focus on his family. Chaudhry is the son of Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, a nuclear engineer.
Who is General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry’s father and why did he face UN sanctions?
The father of General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood was a nuclear engineer. Though revered by his own country, Mahmood faced sanctions from the UN for his alleged involvement with terrorist organisations, like the al-Qaeda.
He was reportedly working with the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission for close to a decade and helped build Pakistan’s nuclear infrastructure. He worked for the development of uranium enrichment plants and the design of reactors necessary for Pakistan’s transition from uranium to plutonium-based weapons capability. These were the backbone of the nuclear program of Pakistan.
Following his retirement from service, Mahmood reportedly came in contact with terror groups. In the year 2000 he founded an organisation – Ummah Tameer-e-Nau (UTN), which was registered as an NGO, working in Afghanistan. Though the NGO claimed that they worked to build schools and infrastructure in Kandhar, Pakistan’s ISI later discovered that the organisation worked with several terror organisations and provided cover for their illegal activities.
In August 2001, Mahmood, along with a colleague, identified as Chaudhri Abdul Majeed met Osama Bin Laden, the dreaded terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks. The meeting was confirmed by the United Nations. Soon after he met Osama, Mahmood was arrested by Pakistani authorities and interrogated. The US was alarmed at this meeting, and believed that the former nuclear engineer might have transferred nuclear technology to the terrorists. This however could not be confirmed.
The ISI later released him, saying that Mahmood could not independently assemble a nuclear weapon. He was later honoured with Pakistan’s third-highest civilian honour, the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, by former PM Nawaz Sharif. Ironocally Mamood later became one of the strongest critics of Sharif.
Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry’s career
Son of Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood took up a career in the Army and has today emerged as one of the top Army personnel in Pakistan. He trained as an officer in the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.
Before becoming the head of ISPR he was posted with the military operations directorate and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DESTO), an institution involved in Pakistan’s defence research. Even DESTO has faced sanctions by the US after Pakistan’s nuclear test in 1998.
