ISLAMABAD: Pervez Musharraf, the four-star common who dominated Pakistan for almost a decade after seizing energy in a cold coup in 1999, oversaw speedy financial development and tried to usher in socially liberal values within the conservative Muslim nation. Musharraf, 79, died in hospital after an extended sickness after spending years in self-imposed exile, Pakistan media reported on Sunday. He loved robust help for a few years, his biggest risk al Qaeda and different militant Islamists who tried to kill him at the least thrice. However his heavy-handed use of the army to quell dissent in addition to his continued backing of the US in its struggle in opposition to al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban finally led to his downfall. Born in New Delhi in 1943, Musharraf was 4 years previous when his mother and father joined the mass exodus by Muslims to the newly created state of Pakistan. His father served within the overseas ministry, whereas his mom was a trainer and the household subscribed to a average, tolerant model of Islam. He joined the military on the age of 18, and went on to guide an elite commando unit earlier than rising to turn into its chief. He took energy by ousting the then prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, who had tried to sack him for greenlighting an operation to invade Indian-held areas of Kashmir, bringing Pakistan and India to the brink of battle. In his early years in authorities, Musharraf received plaudits internationally for his reformist efforts, pushing by way of laws to guard the rights of ladies and permitting personal information channels to function for the primary time. His penchant for cigars and imported whisky and his requires Muslims to undertake a way of life of “enlightened moderation” elevated his attraction within the West within the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults in the US. He turned one among Washington’s most vital allies after the assaults, permitting U.S. forces to function armed drones from secret bases on Pakistani soil that killed 1000’s and ordering home troops into the nation’s lawless tribal areas alongside the Afghanistan frontier for the primary time Pakistan’s historical past. That helped legitimise his rule abroad but additionally helped plunge Pakistan right into a bloody battle in opposition to native extremist militant teams. In a 2006 memoir, he took credit score for saving Pakistan from American wrath saying the nation had been warned it wanted to be “ready to be bombed again to the Stone Age” if it didn’t ally itself with Washington. Musharraf additionally efficiently lobbied then-President George W. Bush to pour cash into the Pakistani army. Nonetheless, the military’s allegiances have been by no means unambiguous: its highly effective intelligence providers reduce offers with the Taliban and al Qaeda, and bolstered an insurgency combating U.S. troops in Afghanistan. In different areas of overseas coverage, Musharraf tried to normalise relations between New Delhi and Islamabad. At a regional summit in 2002, lower than three years after launching the army operation in opposition to India, Musharraf shocked the world when, after ending a speech, he abruptly moved in direction of Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to shake arms and supplied to speak peace. Analysts say the problem of Kashmir – which stays probably the most potent level of rivalry between India and Pakistan – was near being solved in the course of the Musharraf period. However the peace course of was derailed quickly after his rule. Below Musharraf, overseas funding flourished and Pakistan noticed annual financial development of as a lot as 7.5% – which stays the very best degree in almost three a long time, based on World Financial institution knowledge. The later years of his presidency have been, nevertheless overshadowed, by his more and more authoritarian rule. In 2006, Musharraf ordered army motion that killed a tribal head from the province Balochistan, laying the foundations of an armed insurgency that rages to today. The subsequent yr, greater than 100 college students calling for the imposition of Sharia regulation have been killed after Musharraf shunned negotiations and ordered troops to storm a mosque in Islamabad. That led to the delivery of a brand new militant group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has since killed tens of 1000’s in suicide bombings and brazen assaults. Later in 2007, a suicide assault that assassinated opposition chief Benazir Bhutto, triggered waves of violence. His efforts to robust arm the judiciary additionally led to protests and a besieged Musharraf postponed elections and declared a state of emergency. In 2008, the nation’s first democratic elections in 11 years have been held. Musharraf’s occasion misplaced and going through impeachment by parliament he resigned the presidency and fled to London. He returned to Pakistan in 2013 to run for a seat in parliament however was instantly disqualified. He was allowed to go away for Dubai in 2016. In 2019, a courtroom sentenced him to loss of life in absentia for the 2007 imposition of emergency rule however the verdict was later overturned.
