General Pervez Musharraf, who was the 10th President of Pakistan, passed away in Dubai. Musharraf, aged 79 at the time of death, was undergoing treatment for prolonged illnesses and was reported dead at the American Hospital in Dubai.
The passing away of Gen. Musharraf was announced by an official statement from the Pakistani military agency. In the statement, the military officials also expressed their condolences on the passing away of Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
Pakistani Leaders Offer Condolences on Passing Away of Gen. Musharraf
Several political figures in Pakistan have come forward to offer their condolences and messages of tribute for Musharraf. The current Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif extended his sympathy and condolences to Musharraf’s family.
Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, who functions as the Chairman of the Pakistan Senate, expressed his heartfelt grief and sorrow.
The Tehreek-e-Insaf party of Pakistan also released a statement of condolence in the event of the passing away of the late President.
Pervez Musharraf was born in the city of Delhi, which is currently part of India, during British rule. He spent his childhood in the Turkish city of Istanbul, and also in Karachi, which is now part of Pakistani.
He attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK, and in 1961, made his entry into the Military Academy of Pakistan. He was in action during the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war and functioned as the Second Lieutenant. He was appointed as the Commander of an artillery brigade during the 1980s and was promoted to the rank of Major General during the 1990s. He later went on to command the Special Services Group of Pakistan.
After also serving in the roles of Deputy Military Secretary and Director General of Military Operations, Musharraf was promoted to the ranks of a general with four stars in 1998 by then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
This promotion made Musharrad the head of the Pakistani armed forces. He also led the Pakistani infiltration of Kargil in 1999, which resulted in both countries going to war. Following the failure in the Kargil War against India and months of a deteriorating relationship with Nawaz Sharif, then Prime Minister Sharif tried to remove Musharraf’s position as the Pakistani army leader but failed in achieving the same.
As a form of retaliation, the Pakistani army led by Musharraf took over the control of the Pakistani government in 1999, removing any authority that Sharif or his cabinet had at the time.
Musharraf then went on to become the President of Pakistan in 2001, which continued to be ruled by the Pakistani army. Nawaz Sharif was then placed under a strictly-monitored house arrest and had criminal charges pressed against him.
Musharraf was also considered one of the most important allies of the United States. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre, the United States had begun a global hunt for the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, which had a prominent presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Then President Musharraf, allowed the United States to operate armed military drones from top-secret army bases located within Pakistan. He also deployed troops within the tribal areas bordering with Afghanistan, which was the first time such an action was taken in the history of Pakistan.
Musharraf, who belonged to a family that followed moderate Islam, also believed that the same was beneficial for his country. However, Musharraf faced great criticism for his action of ordering military action against a group of students who raised protests wanting to impose the “Sharia Law” in Pakistan. The military action ended up with troops storming a mosque in Islamabad, killing over 100 students. A new group, “Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan” was formed as retaliation, and since then has conducted several assaults and suicide bombings which have killed tens of thousands of innocent Pakistani civilians.
During his term, Musharraf was also praised for several of his actions. He put forward reformist ideas that pushed for the implementation and protection of women’s rights in the country. He also rooted for the importing of items such as whiskey and cigars, which were not found within Pakistan, and appealed to the people of Pakistan to follow a modernized and enlightened lifestyle. He also allowed private news channels to operate in Pakistan for the first time ever.
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Musharraf was also successful in convincing the United States and then U.S. President George W. Bush to financially assist the Pakistani military forces in efforts to make fights against terror groups such as Al Qaeda and Taliban effective.
Gen. Musharraf, who led the military operations in Kargil against India, also extended his efforts to normalize the relationship between the two countries as well.
He left the world in a state of shock during a regional summit back in 2002, when he finished his speech and went towards then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and shook his hands, offering to talk about peace between the two neighbouring nations.
Since losing the elections back in 2008, Musharraf had fled to London as he was facing impeachment actions. He did return back in 2013 to content in parliament elections but was disqualified and he left for exile to Dubai in 2016.
Musharraf was sentenced to death in 2019 by a Pakistani court for his “Emergency Rule” imposition in 2007, but the ruling was later overturned.