Former President Musharraf dies in Dubai hospital

KARACHI: Multiple media reports and family sources have confirmed that former military ruler President Pervez Musharraf has died in a hospital in Dubai, UAE, at the age of 79 after prolonged illness.

His secretary information Irfan Memon quoted by media as confirming the news of his death.

سابق صدر جنرل ر پرویز مشرف انتقال کرگئے، آل پاکستان مسلم لیگ کے سیکرٹری اطلاعات عرفان میمن نے تصدیق کردی

— Fahim Akhtar Malik (@writetofahim) February 5, 2023

Multiple sources said Pervez Musharraf died today, 5 February 2023 at the American Hospital, Dubai, after suffering from a prolonged case of amyloidosis. (Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weight loss, shortness of breath, palpitations, and feeling faint with standing. In AL amyloidosis, specific indicators can include enlargement of the tongue and periorbital purpura. In wild-type ATTR amyloidosis, non-cardiac symptoms include: bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, lumbar spinal stenosis, biceps tendon rupture, small fiber neuropathy, and autonomic dysfunction.)

According to information available in public domain, General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf NI(M) HI(M) was a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the military takeover of the federal government on 12th October, 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 Delhi during the British Raj, Musharraf was raised in Karachi and Istanbul. He studied mathematics at Forman Christian College in Lahore and was also educated at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom. Musharraf entered the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and was commissioned to the Pakistan Army in 1964.

Musharraf saw action during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as a second lieutenant. By the 1980s, he was commanding an artillery brigade. In the 1990s, Musharraf was promoted to major general and assigned an infantry division, and later commanded the Special Services Group. Soon after, he also served as deputy military secretary and director general of military operations. He played an active role in the Afghan civil war, encouraging Pakistani support for the Taliban.

Musharraf rose to national prominence when he was promoted to four-star general by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998, making Musharraf the head of the armed forces. He led the Kargil infiltration that brought India and Pakistan to a war in 1999.

After months of contentious relations between Sharif and Musharraf, Sharif unsuccessfully attempted to remove Musharraf as the army’s leader. In retaliation, the army staged a coup d’état in 1999, which allowed Musharraf to take over Pakistan as president in 2001. He subsequently placed Sharif under strict house arrest before launching official criminal proceedings against him.

Musharraf initially remained the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Chief of the Army Staff, relinquishing the former position upon confirmation of his presidency. However, he remained the Army Chief until retiring in 2007.

The initial stages of his presidency featured controversial wins in a state referendum to grant him a five-year term limit, and a general election in 2002.During his presidency, he advocated for the Third Way, adopting a synthesis of conservatism and socialism. Musharraf reinstated the constitution in 2002, though it was heavily amended within the Legal Framework Order. He appointed Zafarullah Jamali and later Shaukat Aziz as Prime Minister, and oversaw directed policies against terrorism, becoming a key player in the American-led war on terror.

Musharraf pushed for social liberalism under his enlightened moderation program and promoted economic liberalisation, while he also banned trade unions. Musharraf’s presidency coincided with a rise of overall gross domestic product by around 50%; in the same period, domestic savings declined, and economic inequality rose at a rapid rate. Musharraf’s government has also been accused of human rights abuses, and he survived a number of assassination attempts during his presidency. When Aziz departed as prime minister, and after approving the suspension of the judicature in 2007, Musharraf’s position weakened dramatically. Tendering his resignation to avoid impeachment in 2008, Musharraf emigrated to London in a self-imposed exile. His legacy as leader is mixed; he saw the emergence of a more assertive middle class, but an open disregard for civilian institutions greatly weakened democracy in Pakistan.

Musharraf returned to Pakistan in 2013 to participate in that year’s general election, but was disqualified from participating after the country’s high courts issued arrest warrants for him and Aziz for their alleged involvement in the assassinations of Nawab Akbar Bugti and Benazir Bhutto.

Upon Sharif’s re-election in 2013, he initiated high treason charges against Musharraf for implementing emergency rule and suspending the constitution in 2007. The case against Musharraf continued after Sharif’s removal from office in 2017, the same year in which Musharraf was declared an “absconder” in the Bhutto assassination case by virtue of moving to Dubai.

In 2019, Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia for the treason charges, although the death sentence was later annulled by the Lahore High Court.

Military Career:

His first battlefield experience was with an artillery regiment during the intense fighting for the Khemkaran sector in the Second Kashmir War. He also participated in the Lahore and Sialkot war zones during the conflict. During the war, Musharraf developed a reputation for sticking to his post under shellfire. He received the Imtiazi Sanad medal for gallantry.

Shortly after the end of the War of 1965, he joined the elite Special Service Group (SSG). He served in the SSG from 1966 to 1972. He was promoted to captain and to major during this period. During the 1971 war with India, he was a company commander of an SSG commando battalion. During the 1971 war he was scheduled to depart to East-Pakistan to join the army-navy joint military operations, but the deployment was cancelled after Indian Army advances towards Southern Pakistan.