THE minority community's appeal to the government to release Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan and accord him the treatment due to a national hero deserves commendation. People belonging to the Sikh and Christian communities aired their views in an interview to Waqt TV on Sunday. The nuclear scientist, as they point out, enabled the country to develop a nuclear muscle that earned it a respectable position in the comity of nations. Unfortunately, we have been found wanting in our obligation to respect leaders. After the formation of the present government, Dr Khan openly declared that he had no hand in nuclear proliferation and that his confession in 2004 was forced. The argument holds water since it is virtually impossible for a single man to transfer sensitive equipment as alleged by the previous set-up. Nevertheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel in the emerging political scenario. The government, particularly the PML(N), has brought up the issue in its true context several times. Hopefully it would restore Dr Khan to the status he rightly deserves.