Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is dead. He passed on on Sunday 5 February 2023 at the age of 79 after a prolonged illness.
He died in exile in Dubai. He was a very controversial figure who occupied the top chair after a military coup.
Born in August 1943, Musharraf was appointed as army chief in 1998 by then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He was considered the chief architect of the Kargil war in 1999. Sharif had blamed Musharraf for the Kargil adventure and said he wasn’t aware of the military move, and that the army acted unilaterally.
In October 1999, Musharraf dethroned Sharif after the latter tried to sack him following the Kargil debacle. He served as president till 2008.
Musharraf’s role was also seen in the assassination of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Bhutto, who was favourite to become the next prime minister, was assassinated in December 2007, just months after returning to the country after an eight-year exile. She was attacked during a rally in the city of Rawalpindi.
In August 2013, a court in Pakistan charged the former military dictator with the murder of Bhutto. “He was charged with murder, criminal conspiracy for murder, and facilitation for murder,” public prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar told AFP.
In November 2007, the former military dictator suspended the constitution, replaced the chief judge, and blacked out independent TV outlets. He, however, resigned in 2008 as the opposition prepared to move an impeachment motion against him.
Soon after stepping down, he went into exile fearing an arrest threat. In 2013, a case of treason was initiated against him after his old rival Nawaz Sharif returned as Prime Minister. In 2019, Musharraf was sentenced to death by a court for imposing the emergency rule.
Musharraf was also accused of indulging in massive corruption. In June 2018, Pakistan’s The News reported that the country’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had secured evidence in its probe against Musharraf on misuse of authority and illegal allotment of multiple expensive plots to his favorite officers worth about Rs1000 billion.
The evidence included a list of 10 prime properties worth billions of rupees which Musharraf held in his name and in the names of his family members, the report said. The evidence was submitted by a retired army officer colonel Advocate Inamur Rahim to the Deputy Director-Coordination of the NAB, Rawalpindi.
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