© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Pakistan’s former president Pervez Musharraf, 79, died at a hospital in Dubai Sunday after a prolonged illness, news agency Reuters reported quoting a spokesperson from the country’s embassy in UAE.
The four-star general ruled Pakistan for nearly a decade after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999. He took power by ousting the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who had tried to sack him for greenlighting the infiltration in Kargil in 1999.
He also served as the 10th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1998 to 2001 and the 7th Chief of Army Staff from 1998 to 2007.
Born in New Delhi in 1943, Musharraf was four-years-old when his parents joined the mass exodus by Muslims to the newly created state of Pakistan.
According to Reuters, Musharraf joined the army at the age of 18 and went on to lead an elite commando unit before rising to become its chief and oversaw rapid economic growth and attempted to usher in socially liberal values in the conservative Muslim country.
In his early years in government, Musharraf won plaudits internationally for his reformist efforts, pushing through legislation to protect the rights of women and allowing private news channels to operate for the first time.
He also became one of Washington’s most important allies after the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States and successfully lobbied then-president George W Bush to pour money into the Pakistani military.
Meanwhile, militants tried to assassinate Musharraf twice in 2003 by targeting his convoy, first with a bomb planted on a bridge and then with car bombs. That second attack saw Musharraf’s vehicle lifted into the air by the blast before touching the ground again. It raced to safety on just its rims, Musharraf pulling a Glock pistol in case he needed to fight his way out.
The later years of his presidency were, however, overshadowed by his increasingly authoritarian rule. He held flawed elections in late 2002 — only after changing the constitution to give himself sweeping powers to sack the prime minister and parliament. He then reneged on a promise to stand down as army chief by the end of 2004.
In 2006, Musharraf ordered military action that killed a tribal head from the province of Balochistan, laying the foundations of an armed insurgency that rages to this day.
In 2007, a suicide attack that assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto triggered waves of violence in the country. He was declared a fugitive in the Benazir Bhutto murder case and the Red Mosque cleric killing case. Musharraf’s efforts to strong-arm the judiciary also led to protests and a besieged leader postponed elections and declared a state of emergency in Pakistan.
After 11 long years, the country’s first democratic elections were held in 2008, but Musharraf’s party lost the polls. Facing impeachment by parliament, he resigned the presidency and fled to London.
He returned to Pakistan in 2013 to run for a seat in parliament but was immediately disqualified. He was allowed to leave for Dubai in 2016. In 2019, a court sentenced him to death in absentia for the 2007 imposition of emergency rule but the verdict was later overturned.
Musharraf’s family announced in June 2022 that he had been hospitalised for weeks while suffering from amyloidosis, an incurable condition that sees proteins build up in the body’s organs. “Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning,” the family said back then.
(With inputs from Reuters, AP)
