This is an archive article published on February 5, 2023

Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf passes away after long illness

Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008, had been suffering from rare disease amyloidosis, caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues.

Musharraf, four-star general of the Pakistan Army, assumed power after a military takeover of the government in 1999. (AP)

By: Express Web Desk

5 min readNew DelhiFeb 5, 2023 08:43 PM IST First published on: Feb 5, 2023 at 11:40 AM IST

Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf, a four-star general who seized power through a coup in 1999 after the Kargil war and later became an important ally in the US war in Afghanistan, died Sunday at a Dubai hospital after a long illness. He was 79.

Musharraf had been undergoing treatment for amyloidosis – a rare disease caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues – reports in the Pakistan media said.

Then Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and his wife Sehba pose in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, on July 15, 2001. (AP)

Musharraf was in self-imposed exile in Dubai since March 2016 and was facing a treason case for suspending the Constitution in 2007. He was also declared a fugitive in cases related to the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and the siege of the Lal Masjid.

Coming to power after a military takeover of the Nawaz Sharif government in 1999, Musharraf served first as ‘Chief Executive’, before going on to become Pakistan’s tenth president in June 2001. He stepped down in August 2008 after facing a possible impeachment.

Musharraf’s family announced in June 2022 that he was hospitalised with amyloidosis. “Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning,” their statement said.

The chiefs of Pakistan’s army, navy and air force expressed condolences on his death, Reuters quoted the public relations wing of the military as saying. Geo News reported that a special flight on Monday will bring the body home from Dubai for burial.

Pakistan’s then-President Pervez Musharraf shakes hands with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before their meeting in New Delhi April 17, 2005 (Reuters)

Born in Delhi

Born in New Delhi in 1943, Musharraf was four years old when his family migrated to Pakistan. He attended school in Ankara and Karachi and university in Lahore.

He joined the Pakistan army in 1961 at the age of 18, took part in the India-Pakistan wars in 1965 and 1971, and was over the years promoted to the rank of a four-star general.

Musharraf was widely seen as the chief architect of the infiltrations that led to the Kargil War of 1999, shortly after India and Pakistan signed the Lahore Declaration.

Then-president of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on July 15, 2001. (Express archive photo)

When the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif tried to remove him after the war, the general deposed him in a bloodless coup and then went on to rule Pakistan first as chief executive, and later as president.

Musharraf as president tried to normalise ties with India and visited Agra in 2001 for a peace summit with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee; but negotiations broke down and a treaty was never signed.

In Opinion | From army chief to convict for treason — Pervez Musharraf fell a long way

US ally in Afghanistan war

After the 9/11 attacks on the US took place, Musharraf as chief executive made Pakistan align with Washington during its military intervention in neighbouring Afghanistan.

This earned him the wrath of terrorist organisations and the illwill of a section of the population, and there were four attempts made on his life in the years that followed.

As a ruler, Musharraf went ahead with legislations favouring women and opening up the media; but later swung to more authoritarian ways with crackdowns against dissenters and strongarm tactics against the judiciary.

Of these, the 2007 siege of Lal Masjid which left more than 100 dead, led to the rise of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which carried out several bombings in the country over the years.

Life in exile

After the 2007 assassination of Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, his allies suffered crushing losses in the elections next year. Facing impeachment, Musharraf resigned and fled to London

In 2013, he tried for a comeback to Pakistan politics, but was disqualified from running in an election. He was later allowed to travel to Dubai for medical treatment.

In December 2019, he was sentenced to death by a special court in the treason case against him for imposition of emergency. It was later overturned, but by that time Musharraf had long left for the safer shores of the emirates.