Pakistan's former military ruler General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf died on Sunday in Dubai after a prolonged battle with a rare illness. He was 79.
The former President of Pakistan, who was in a self-imposed exile in the UAE, was at the helm of Pakistan for nearly a decade till 2008.
The Pakistani military confirmed his death in a statement, expressing "heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of General Pervez Musharaf, former president, CJCSC and Chief of Army Staff." "May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family," it read.
According to Pakistani media, Musharraf was suffering from amyloidosis, a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with normal functions.
Though there is no official communication on whether his body will be brought back to Pakistan, local TV channel Geo News reported that a special flight will be made to Dubai on Monday to bring Musharraf’s body back to Pakistan for burial. Musharraf had expressed interest to come back home.
The mastermind of the Kargil war
Musharraf, a four-star general, was born in pre-Partition Delhi on August 11, 1943. After the partition, his family settled in Karachi, where after graduation, he joined the Pakistan Army.
His battlefield experience came during the 1965 Indo-Pak war and the 1971 war which led to the partition of Bangladesh. The next two decades saw him rise through the ranks to become the chief of army staff in 1998. It was during this period that Musharraf, allegedly acting unilaterally, masterminded the Kargil War of 1999. Sharif blamed Musharraf for the humiliating defeat the country suffered in the war.
A year later, Musharraf launched a bloodless coup to overthrow the Sharif government after the latter prevented him from landing at Karachi airport upon his journey back from Sri Lanka.
In June 2001, Musharraf became the president of Pakistan, a period which saw him trying to transition Pakistan into a secular state of sorts. Pakistan also saw economic growth during this period but along with it came accusations of human rights violations and dictatorial tendencies. He also faced threats from al-Qaida and other militant Islamists and survived three attempts on his life during this period.
A few months after Musharraf became the President, 9/11 happened and Pakistan allied with the US during its military intervention in neighbouring Afghanistan. In his memoir, Musharraf famously claimed he saved his country from American wrath, claiming that the US warned Pakistan needed to be "prepared to be bombed back to the Stone Age" if it did not ally itself with Washington.
After the December 2007 assassination of Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, for which he was blamed, his allies suffered crushing losses in the 2008 elections. Fearing impeachment by parliament, he resigned from the presidency and fled to London.
Though he attempted a comeback in 2013 by trying to run to the parliament, Musharraf was immediately disqualified. He fled to Dubai in 2016.
