ISLAMABAD - Former president Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf passed away in Dubai yesterday after a protracted illness. He was 79. The former army chief was undergoing treatment for amyloidosis at the American Hospital Dubai.
Shazia Siraj, spokesperson for Pakistan’s consulate in Dubai and embassy in Abu Dhabi confirmed the news while talking to the media. Amyloidosis is a condition which is caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein in organs and tissues that prevents them from working properly.
Gen Musharraf is survived by his wife and two children.
Official sources told The Nation that son of former President Musharraf, Bilal Musharraf, met Pakistan Consul General Hasan Afzal Khan and discussed arrangements for shifting of the dead body to Pakistan.
However, Bilal Musharraf, according to the sources, told the counsel general that family members are in consultations and would decide when to send the dead body to Pakistan. Meanwhile, the Pakistani consulate has issued the death certificate of Gen Pervez Musharraf and a letter of cancellation of the diplomatic passport of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf to the son of Pervez Musharraf.
A special jet will fly to Dubai from Nur Khan airbase to bring Musharraf’s mortal remains back to Pakistan. The UAE government has also offered a special aircraft for transporting the dead body and family members to Karachi.
Pakistan embassy in Abu Dhabi and consulate in Dubai are awaiting final response from the Musharraf family for the transportation. Former president Pervez Musharraf has left behind a chequered legacy. He had joined the army in 1961 as a student and steadily rose up the ranks, culminating in his surprise selection as army chief by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Musharraf was junior to many Generals when Sharif appointed him as the Chief of Army Staff in October 1998. Almost a year later, Musharraf deposed on October 12, 1999, and became the Chief Executive, hours after Sharif refused to allow a commercial plane carrying the General to land in Karachi. Tensions between the two men had been high for months, most importantly over the conflict in Kargil against India. Musharraf - who was the President between 2001 and 2008 - died in Dubai after a long illness. He had survived numerous assassination attempts, and found himself on the front line of the struggle between militants and the West. He supported the US ‘war on terror’ after 9/11 despite domestic opposition. In 2008, a few months after the general elections, he left the country.
Musharraf returned in 2013 to try to contest the election for his newly-formed All Pakistan Muslim League but he was arrested and barred from standing. He was charged with high treason and was sentenced to death in absentia only for the decision to be overturned less than a month later. He then left Pakistan for Dubai in 2016 to seek medical treatment and had been living in exile in the country ever since.
Musharraf’s rule was characterised by extremes. He was credited by some with turning around the economic fortunes of the country while leader.
He was embroiled in a number of court cases following his loss of power, including accusations of failing to provide adequate security for former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, whose assassination in 2007 shocked Pakistan and the world.
He was credited with attracting foreign investment to Pakistan, which saw the strongest economic growth in nearly 30 years during his rule, and he enjoyed the support of the military and Pakistanis who backed his crackdown against militant groups.
A graduate from a Christian high school, Musharraf was keen for Pakistan to embrace liberal Islam, an approach that increased his appeal in the West following the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Musharraf joined what Washington called its ‘war on terror,’ giving US forces ground and air access into landlocked Afghanistan to chase down Al-Qaeda militants.
This decision contradicted Pakistan’s long-standing support for the Taliban, which at that point controlled Afghanistan, and made Musharraf a target for domestic militant groups. Yesterday, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan formed after Musharraf’s crackdown, celebrated his death. “This was the infamous army chief who sold off the country’s honour and respect,” the TTP said in a statement.
In a 2006 memoir, Musharraf said he saved Pakistan by joining the campaign against Al-Qaeda. He also successfully lobbied the administration of former US President George W. Bush to support the nuclear-armed nation’s military, which remains one of the most powerful in South Asia.
Domestically, Musharraf’s ironfist rule created turmoil. The state of emergency in 2007 aimed to quell protests triggered by a clampdown on the judiciary and the media. That same year, his government was criticised for not providing enough security ahead of the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a political rival killed while on campaign for national elections. Amid the last months into power, in March 2007, Musharraf sacked former Pakistan Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, which led to a massive public backlash and gave birth to the lawyers’ movement, which protested against Musharraf’s rule after he dismissed multiple high-profile lawyers.
Four months later, the General was embroiled in another controversy - the week-long siege of Lal Masjid by religious hardliners that ended with Musharraf ordering a military operation in which some 100 people were killed. In November 2007, he imposed a state of emergency and suspended the constitution, reigniting protests. He resigned as army chief later that month, but it did little to help his political fortunes as the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December led to more widespread protests and violence. He was accused of willfully failing to ensure her security.
Analysts believe that apart from many controversies, Musharraf improved relations with India during his time as the President and it was one of his “biggest” foreign policy achievements. He was credited with making headway on the Kashmir issue and that was the last time there was hope on Kashmir front with the four-point formula that he had proposed. The fourpoint formula envisaged by Musharraf included demilitarisation, self-governance and a joint mechanism agreed by India and Pakistan for the supervision of Kashmir. Musharraf has also been credited with opening up Pakistan’s media landscape. Before his rule there was one state-owned channel Pakistan Television and later dozens of private news channels thrived under him.