Pakistan’s former military dictator Pervez Musharraf, India’s bugbear, dies at 79
Dubai. Former Pakistan Military Dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf died of a rare disease in a Dubai hospital February 5. He was 79.
He was here since 2016 in exile in the face of violent protests by people against him for his highhandedness. He was suffering from amyloidosis, and doctors treating him had said only a few weeks back that there was no hope of his survival.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif wanted some peace with India and had invited Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to Lahore. But Musharraf sabotaged his own Prime Minister, and instead initiated a war by capturing parts of Sia Chin. The Indian Army threw the Pakistanis out in the ensuing bloody war in the world’s highest battleground.
Musharraf assumed the post of Chief Executive after imposing martial law in the country in 1999 and served as the President from 2001 to 2008.
The former president’s family moved from New Delhi to Karachi in 1947. He was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1964 and was a graduate of the Army Staff and Command College, Quetta.
He also took part in the 1965 and 1971 wars with India.
He was promoted to the rank of General in 1998 and took over as the Chief of Army Staff. A year later on October 12, 1999, Musharraf usurped power in a coup d’etat.
Musharraf remained the longest-serving president of Pakistan as he took after taking over the country’s reins. He was elected as the President through a referendum in 2002 and remained in office till 2008.
During his tenure, he accepted the US proposal for Pakistan to become a frontline ally after the 9/11 attacks.
In 2004, he was elected as a President in uniform for five year after the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.
Musharraf is also known for anti-constitutional measures to depose the judges of Supreme Court in November 2007, which marked the beginning of Lawyers’ Movement – also known as the Movement for the Restoration of Judiciary, that eventually led to his downfall on August 18, 2008.
The former military ruler was sentenced to death by a special court on December 17, 2019, under Article 6 of the Constitution. A case of high treason was filed against him during Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) tenure.
Musharraf was present in the court on March 31, 2016, when he was indicted on the charges.
Later, he went into exile due to his illness.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Sahir Shamshad, and tri-services chiefs expressed heartfelt condolences on Musharraf’s demise.
