| Pervez Musharraf پرویز مشرّف |
|
|---|---|
| 10th President of Pakistan | |
| In office 20 June 2001 – 18 August 2008 |
|
| Prime Minister | Zafarullah Khan Jamali Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain Shaukat Aziz Muhammad Mian Soomro Yousaf Raza Gillani |
| Preceded by | Muhammad Rafiq Tarar |
| Succeeded by | Asif Ali Zardari |
| 5th Chief Martial Law Administrator | |
| In office 12 October 1999 – 21 November 2002 |
|
| President | Muhammad Rafiq Tarar |
| Preceded by | General Zia-ul-Haq |
| Succeeded by | Post abolished |
| 13th Chief of Army Staff | |
| In office 6 October 1998 – 28 November 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | General Jehangir Karamat |
| Succeeded by | General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani |
| 10th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee | |
| In office 8 October 1998 – 7 October 2001 |
|
| Preceded by | General Jehangir Karamat |
| Succeeded by | General Aziz Khan |
| 22nd Defence Minister of Pakistan | |
| In office 12 October 1999 – 23 November 2002 |
|
| Preceded by | Nawaz Sharif |
| Succeeded by | Rao Sikandar Iqbal |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 August 1943 Delhi, British Indian Empire |
| Political party | PML-Q APML |
| Spouse(s) | Sehba Musharraf |
| Alma mater | Pakistan Military Academy Command and Staff College |
| Religion | Islam |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | See below |
| Years of service | 1964-2007 |
| Rank | General |
Pervez Musharraf (Urdu: پرویز مشرف, born 11 August 1943), is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled Pakistan as Chief Executive from 1999–2001 and as President from 2001-08. In the face of impeachment, he preferred to resign on 18 August 2008.
After years of military service, he rose to prominence when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed him as the Chief of Army Staff in October 1998. Musharraf was the mastermind behind the controversial and internationally condemned Kargil infiltration, which derailed peace negotiations with Pakistan's long standing enemy India. He previously also played a vital role in the Afghanistan civil war (1996-2001) both in peace negotiations and in trying to end the bloodshed. After months of contentious relations with Sharif, Musharraf was brought to power through a bloodless military coup. Subsequently Nawaz Sharif was placed under an house-arrest, later shifting him to Adiala Jail.
As Pakistan's head of state, he was a U.S. ally in the War on Terror. He was credited with the development of Pakistan's economy during the early years of his rule. The last two years of his rule have been marred by controversies the suspension of the Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Lal Masjid siege. He is also credited to be the first president of Pakistan who accepted supreme court rulings and who organized free and fair elections.
In February 2011, a Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for him because of his alleged involvement in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. As of June 2011, he lives in self-exile in London but has vowed to return for the next election. He has announced that he intends to return to Pakistan on 23 March 2012.
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He was born on 11 August 1943 in Delhi, British India.[1][2][3] He is the son of Syed and Zarin Musharraf.[4][5] Syed graduated from Aligarh Muslim University and was a civil servant for the British.[6] Zarin was born in the early 1920s.[2]
His home was called neharwali haveli, literally "mansion by the canal".[7] The home is so large that it housed eight different families in 2001.[7] The home was located in the epicenter of India's ruling Mughal elite.[7] Syed Ahmed Khan's family lived adjacent to the home.[7] The home's title deeds were written entirely in Urdu except for his father's English signature.[7]
He and his family left for Pakistan on one of the last safe trains in 1947 a few days before the partition of India.[4][7][8] His father worked for Pakistani government and eventually joined the Foreign Ministry.[4] In his autobiography Line of Fire, he elaborates on his first experience with death was after falling off a mango tree.[9]
His family moved to Ankara after his father's diplomatic deputation was sent by Pakistan to Turkey in 1949.[6][10] He learned to speak Turkish.[11][12] He had a dog named Whiskey that gave him a "lifelong love for dogs".[6] He often played sports in his youth.[4][13] He left Turkey in 1956.[6][10]
He returned to Pakistan in 1957.[11] He attended Saint Patrick's School in Karachi and Forman Christian College in Lahore.[6][14][15]
| Pervez Musharraf | |
|---|---|
General Pervez Musharraf, PA |
|
| Birth name | Pervez Musharraf |
| Nickname | Cowboy |
| Allegiance | Pakistan |
| Service/branch | Pakistan Army |
| Years of service | 1964-2007 |
| Rank | General |
| Unit | Pakistan Army Artillery Corps |
| Commands held | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Chief of Army Staff Director-General Military Operations I Strike Corps Special Services Group 40th Army Infantry Division |
| Battles/wars | War in West-Pakistan 2001 Indo-Pakistan standoff Coup d'état of 1999 Pakistan war in Afghanistan Indo-Pakistani War of 1999 Indo-Pakistan Siachen war Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 |
| Awards | Nishan-e-Imtiaz Imtiazi Sanad Tamgha-e-Basalat |
In 1961, he entered the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul.[13][16] He joined the Pakistan Army in 1964 and was placed in an artillery regiment.[17][18]
His first battlefield experience was with his artillery regiment in the intense fighting for Khemkaran sector in the Second Kashmir War.[19] He also participated in the Lahore and Sialkot war zones during the conflict.[12] During the war, Musharraf developed a reputation for sticking to his post under shellfire.[8] He received the Imtiazi Sanad medal for gallantry.[10][13]
Shortly after the end of the War of 1965, he joined the elite Special Service Group (SSG).[11][18] He served in the SSG from 1966-1972.[11][20] He was promoted to captain and to major during this period.[11] During the war, he also was a company commander of a commando battalion.[12]
Musharraf was a lieutenant colonel in 1974[11] and a colonel in 1978.[21] As staff officer in the 1980s, he studied and taught at Command and Staff College and National Defense College.[17][18][20] He did not play any significant role in Pakistan's proxy war in the 1979-89 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[20] In 1987, he became a brigade commander of a new division of the SSG near Siachen Glacier.[3] In September 1987, he launched an assault at Bilafond La before being pushed back.[3] In 1990, he studied at the Royal College of Defense Studies in Britain.[12] While in the Army, he earned the nickname "Cowboy" for his westernized ways.[20][21]
In 1991, he became major general and worked closely with the Chief of Army Staff as Director-General of Pakistan Army's Directorate General for the Military Operations (DGMO).[21] Musharraf proposed a Kargil infiltration to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but she rebuffed the plan.[22] After the collapse of the fractious Afghan government, Musharraf assisted General Babar and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in devising a policy of supporting the newly-formed Taliban in the Afghan civil war against the Northern Alliance government.[20]
His last military field posting was at the Mangla border region in 1995 as a lieutenant-general commander.[18]
In October 1998, General was forced to resign as Chief of Army of Staff for advocating the creation of a National Security Council with an active military role.[18] Subsequently, Nawaz Sharif forced General Karamat to resign.[18] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally promoted Musharraf as four-star general to replace Karamat.[18] Musharraf superseded Lieutenant General Khalid Nawaz Khan and Lieutenant-General Ali Kuli Khan Khattak who were much senior to him. Later, Sharif promoted General Musharraf to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
The Pakistan Army originally conceived the Kargil plan after the Siachen conflict but the plan was rebuffed repeatedly by senior civilian and military officials.[22] Musharraf was a leading strategist behind the Kargil Conflict.[12] From March–May 1999, he ordered the secret infiltration of Kashmiri forces in the Kargil district.[20] After India discovered the infiltration, a fierce Indian offensive nearly lead to a full-scale war.[20][22] However, Sharif withdrew support of the insurgents in the border conflict in July because of heightened international pressure.[20] Sharif's decision antagonized the Pakistan Army and rumors of a possible coup began emerging soon afterward.[20][23] Sharif and Musharraf dispute on who was responsible for the Kargil conflict and Pakistan's withdrawal.[24]
Military officials from Musharraf's Joint Chief of Staff met with regional corps commanders three times in late September in anticipation of a possible coup.[25] To quiet rumors of a fallout between Musharraf and Sharif, Sharif officially certified Musharraf's remaining two years of his term on September 30.[25][26]
Musharraf had left for a weekend trip to take part in Sri Lanka's Army's 50th-anniversary celebrations.[27] When Pervez Musharraf was returning from an official visit to Colombo his flight was denied landing permissions to Karachi International Airport after orders were issued from the Prime Minister's office.[28] Upon hearing the announce of Nawaz Sharif, replacing Pervez Musharraf by Khwaja Ziauddin, the third replacement of the top military commander of the country in less than two years,[28] local military commanders begun to mobilize troops towards Islamabad from nearby Rawalpindi.[27][28] The military placed Sharif under house arrest,[29][29] but in a last ditch effort Sharif privately ordered Karachi air traffic controllers to redirect Musharraf's flight to India.[25][28] The plan failed after soldiers in Karachi surrounded the airport control tower.[28][30] At 2:50 AM on October 13,[29] Musharraf addressed the nation with a recorded message.[28]
Musharraf met with President Rafiq Tarar on October 13 to deliberate on legitimizing the coup.[31] On October 15, Musharraf ended emerging hopes of a quick transition to democracy after he declared state of emergency, suspended the Constitution, and assumed power as Chief Executive.[30][32] He also quickly purged the government of political enemies, notably Ziauddin and national airline chief Shahid Khaqan Abbassi.[30] On October 17, he gave his second national address and established a seven-member military-civilian council to govern the country.[33][34] He named three retired military officers and a judge as provincial administrators on October 21.[35]
There were no organized protests within the country to the coup.[34][36] The coup was widely criticized by the international community.[37] Consequently, Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations.[38][39] Sharif was put under house arrest and later exiled to Saudi Arabia on his personal request and under a contract.[40]
Musharraf's first foreign visit was to Saudi Arabia on October 26 where he met with King Fahd.[41][42] After meeting senior Saudi royals, the next day he went to Medina and performed Umrah in Mecca.[41] On October 28, he went to United Arab Emirates before returning home.[41][42]
By the end of October, Musharraf appointed many technocrats and bureaucrats in his Cabinet, including former Citibank executive Shaukat Aziz as Finance Minister and Abdul Sattar as Foreign Minister.[43][44] In early November, he released details of his assets to the public.[45]
In late December 1999, Musharraf's dealt with his first international crisis when India accused Pakistan's involvement in the Indian Airlines Flight 814 hijacking.[46][47] Though United States President Bill Clinton pressured Musharraf to ban the alleged group behind the hijacking — Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,[48] Pakistani officials refused because of fears of reprisal from political parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami.[49]
In March 2000, Musharraf banned political rallies.[36]
The army held Sharif under house arrest at a government guesthouse[50] and opened his Lahore home to the public in late October 1999.[43] He was formally indicted in November[50] on charges of hijacking, kidnapping, attempted murder, and treason for preventing Musharraf's flight from landing at Karachi airport on the day of the coup.[51][52] His trial began in early March 2000 in an anti-terrorism court,[53] which are designed for speedy trials.[54] He testified Musharraf began preparations of a coup after the Kargil conflict.[53] Sharif was placed in Adiala Jail, infamous for hosting Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's trial, and his leading defense lawyer, Iqbal Raad, was shot dead in Karachi in mid-March.[55] Sharif's defense team blamed the military for intentionally providing their lawyers with inadequate protection.[55] The court proceedings were widely accused of being a show trial.[56][57][58] Sources from Pakistan claimed that Musharraf and his military government's officers were in full mood to exercise tough conditions on Sharif, was intended to sent Navaz Sharif to gallows to face similar fate as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979. It was the pressure on Musharraf exerted by Saudia Arabia and the United States to exile Sharif after it became authenticated that the court is near to place her verdict on Navaz Sharif on his charges, and the court will sentenced Sharif to death. Sharif signed an agreement with Musharraf and his military government and his family was exiled to Saudi Arabia in December 2000.
Shortly after Musharraf's takeover, he issued The Oath of Judges Order 2000, which required judges to take a fresh oath of office swearing allegiance to military. On 12 May 2000, the Supreme Court asked Musharraf to hold national elections by 12 October 2002. The residing President Rafiq Tarar remained in office until June 2001. Musharraf formally appointed himself President on 20 June 2001. In August 2002, he issued the Legal Framework Order, which added numerous amendments to the 1973 Constitution. In October 2002, Pakistan held elections which the pro-Musharraf PML-Q won wide margins. The PML-Q and MQM formed a coalition and legitimized Musharraf's rule.
Musharraf allied with the United States against the Taliban government in Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. He claims in his 2006 memoirs he was given an ultimatum after military threats "to go back to the Stone Age" by U.S. President George W. Bush through Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage and Secretary of State Colin Powell.[59][60] Bush and Armitage denied it.[61][62] Musharraf agreed to give the United States the use of three airbases for Operation Enduring Freedom. In return for his support on the War on Terror Musharraf was among the 194 candidates nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.[63] However, there are controversies that Musharraf's played a double game with the US in the war on terror, and undermined US efforts to curb the Taliban and the extremist militants by funding and aiding several of the Al Qaeda leaders.
A few months after the September 11 attacks, Musharraf gave a speech against Islamic extremism.[64] He instituted prohibitions on foreign students' access to studying Islam within Pakistan, an effort which began as an outright ban but was later reduced to restrictions on obtaining visas.[65] On 18 September 2005, Musharraf made a speech before a broad based audience of Jewish leadership, sponsored by the American Jewish Congress's Council for World Jewry, in New York City.[66] In the speech, he denounced terrorism and opened the door to relationships between Pakistan and Israel. He was widely criticized by Middle Eastern leaders, but was met with some praise among Jewish leadership.[67]
After the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, Musharraf expressed his sympathies to Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and sent a plane load of relief supplies to India.[68][69][70]
In the mid-2004, Musharraf began a series of talks with India to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
In 2006, King Abdullah visited Pakistan for the first time as King. Musharraf honored King Abdullah with the Nishan-e-Pakistan.[71] Musharraf received the King Abdul-Aziz Medallion in 2007.[72]
In 2001, as part of Musharraf's de-extremism policies, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) apprehended Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood, a nuclear engineer, and Dr. Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, a nuclear chemist, in suspicion of having contacts and connections to Taliban. During this sting operation, it was revealed that Mahmood had a meeting with Osama bin Laden to build a radiological weapon. But, Mahmood was not capable of developing the weapon as he was an expert in nuclear power technology, not weapons. Therefore, Al-Qaeda was unable to gain any knowledge from these scientists, the ISI and CIA later reported. Musharraf, who during this time was Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, decided to militarily debriefed the scientists. Mahmood and Dr. Majeed were taken into the custody of the Judge Advocate General Branch (JAG) where the debriefings continued until the early 2005. After the debriefings were completed, both scientists were put out of public eye and were prevented from attending any science seminars held in the country.
As President, General Musharraf had promoted Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan to the most prestigious post, the Science Advisor to the President. Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan's open-promotion of nuclear weapons and ballistics missiles brought an international embarrassment for Pakistan. According to Zahid Malik, after the government received potential and solid evidence against Khan from the United States, General Musharraf and the military establishment were in full mood to exercise rough actions against Khan. Khan's debriefing was necessary for General Musharraf to prove the loyalty of Pakistan to the United States and Western world.
One of the most widely-reported controversies during Musharraf's administration arose as a consequence of the disclosure of nuclear proliferation by Dr. A.Q. Khan, a national hero and one of the most decorated scientists. Initially General Musharraf denied knowledge of or participation by Pakistan or the Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and even the Pakistan Navy, despite Khan urging that Musharraf was the leader of the proliferation ring. On January 2004, General Musharraf dismissed Dr. A.Q. Khan as his Science Adviser. A formal military debriefing of Khan continued for the next three years.
Musharraf faced bitter domestic criticism for singularly attempting to vilify Khan. Musharraf's long standing ally MQM gave a cold shoulder and bitter and acrimonious criticism to Musharraf over his handling of Khan. MQM tapped an anti-Musharraf movement for the release of Khan which initially shocked Musharraf and the United States. MQM and her leaders threatened to leave hMusharraf's government if Khan was persecuted or even jailed. Fearing his regime would be topple if MQM continued to tap this wave, Khan was pardoned in exchange for cooperation in the investigation by Musharraf, but was put under house arrest where he was forced to attend various debriefings which would continued for hours.[73] After Musharraf's resignation, Dr. Khan was finally released from house arrest by the executive order of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. After Musharraf departed from the country, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Tärikue Majid ended further debriefings of Dr. Khan.
When Musharraf came to power in 1999, he claimed that the corruption in the government bureaucracy would be cleaned up.[74] According to a survey conducted by Transparency International Pakistan ranked in 2001 as the world's 11th most corrupt nation. In 2007 Pakistan ranked as the 41st most corrupt nation.
In December 2003, Musharraf made a deal with Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a six-member coalition of Islamic parties, agreeing to leave the army by 31 December 2004. With that party's support, pro-Musharraf legislators were able to muster the two-thirds supermajority required to pass the Seventeenth Amendment, which retroactively legalized Musharraf's 1999 coup and many of his decrees. In late 2004, Musharraf went back on his agreement with the MMA and pro-Musharraf legislators in the Parliament passed a bill allowing Musharraf to keep both offices. Constitution Article 63 clause (1) paragraph (d), read with proviso to Article 41 clause (7) paragraph (b), allows the President to hold dual office.
On 1 January 2004, Musharraf had won a confidence vote in the Electoral College of Pakistan, consisting of both houses of Parliament and the four provincial assemblies. Musharraf received 658 out of 1170 votes, a 56% majority, but many opposition and Islamic members of parliament walked out to protest the vote. As a result of this vote, his term was extended to 2007.
Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigned on 26 June 2004, after losing the support of the PML(Q). His resignation was at least partially due to his public differences with the party chairman, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. This was rumored to have happened at Musharraf's command. Jamali had been appointed with the support of Musharraf's and the pro-Musharraf PML(Q). Most PML(Q) parliamentarians formerly belonged to the Pakistan Muslim League party led by Sharif, and most ministers of the cabinet were formerly senior members of other parties, joining the PML(Q) after the elections upon being offered positions. Musharraf nominated Shaukat Aziz, the minister for finance and a former employee of Citibank[75] and head of Citibank Private Banking as the new prime minister.
The National Assembly voted in favor of the “Women's Protection Bill” on 15 November 2006 and the Senate approved it on 23 November 2006. President General Pervez Musharraf signed into law the “Women's Protection Bill”, on 1 December 2006. The bill places rape laws under the penal code and allegedly does away with harsh conditions that previously required victims to produce four male witnesses and exposed the victims to prosecution for adultery, if they were unable to prove the crime.[76] However, the Women's Protection bill has been criticized heavily by many for paying continued lip service and failing to address the actual problem by its roots: repealing the Hudood Ordinance. In this context, Musharraf has also been criticized by women and human rights activists for not following up his words by action.[77][78] The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said that "The so-called Women's Protection Bill is a farcical attempt at making Hudood Ordinances palatable" outlining the issues of the bill and the continued impact on women.[79]
His government increased reserved seats for women in assemblies, to increase women's representation and make their presence more effective. Compared with 1988 seats in the National Assembly were increased from 20 to 60. In provincial assemblies 128 seats were reserved for women. This situation has brought out increase participation of women for 1988 and 2008 elections.[80]
In March 2005, a couple of months after the rape of a Pakistani physician, Dr. Shazia Khalid, working on a government gas plant in the remote Baluchistan province, Musharraf was criticized for pronouncing, Captain Hammad, a fellow military man and the accused in the case, innocent before the judicial inquiry was complete.[81][82] Following the rape, riots erupted in the local Bugti clan of the province, where the rape took place. They saw a rape in their heartland as being a breach of their code of honor and attacked the gas plant. In an uncompromising response Musharraf sent tanks, helicopters and an extra 4,500 soldiers to guard the installation. If the tribesmen failed to stop shooting, he warned on television, "they will not know what hit them".[83] Shazia was later forced and threatened by the government to leave the country.[84]
In an interview to the Washington Post in September 2005 Musharraf said that Pakistani women, who were the victims of rape, treated rape as a "moneymaking concern" and were only interested in the publicity in order to make money and get a Canadian visa. He subsequently denied making these comments, but the Washington Post made available an audio recording of the interview, in which Musharraf could be heard making the quoted remarks.[85] Musharraf also denied Mukhtaran Mai, a Pakistani rape victim, the right to travel abroad, until pressured by US State Department.[86] The remarks made by Musharraf sparked outrage and protests both internationally and in Pakistan by various groups i.e. women groups, activists.[87] In a rally, held close to the presidential palace and Pakistan's parliament, hundreds of women demonstrated in Pakistan demanding Musharraf apologize for the controversial remarks about female rape victims.[88]
In 2000 Kamran Atif, an alleged member of Harkat-ul Mujahideen al-Alami, tried to assassinate Musharraf. Atif was sentenced to death in 2006 by an Anti Terrorism Court. On 14 December 2003, Musharraf survived an assassination attempt when a powerful bomb went off minutes after his highly-guarded convoy crossed a bridge in Rawalpindi. It was the third such attempt during his four-year rule. On 25 December 2003, two suicide bombers tried to assassinate Musharraf, but their car bombs failed to kill him; 16 others died instead.[89] Musharraf escaped with only a cracked windshield on his car. Amjad Farooqi was an alleged mastermind behind these attempts, and was killed by Pakistani forces in 2004 after an extensive manhunt.
On 6 July 2007, there was another attempted assassination, when an unknown group fired a 7.62 submachine gun at Musharraf's plane as it took off from a runway in Rawalpindi. Security also recovered 2 anti-aircraft guns, from which no shots had been fired.[90] On 17 July 2007, Pakistani police detained 39 people in relation to the attempted assassination of Musharraf.[91] The suspects were detained at an undisclosed location by a joint team of Punjab Police, the Federal Investigation Agency and other Pakistani intelligence agencies.[92]
On 8 October 2007, a military helicopter escorting President Musharraf, on his visit to the earthquake-affected areas on its second anniversary, crashed near Muzaffarabad, killing four people, including a brigadier. The Puma helicopter crashed at Majohi near Garhi Dupatta in Azad Kashmir at 11:15 am due to technical fault. Those killed included Brigadier Zahoor Ahmed, Naik Ajmal, Sepoy Rashid and PTV cameraman Muhammad Farooq, while President’s Media Advisor Maj Gen (R) Rashid Qureshi sustained injuries. Twelve people were on board the helicopter.[93]
By August 2007, polls showed 64 percent of Pakistanis did not want another Musharraf term.[94][95]
On 9 March 2007, Musharraf suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and pressed corruption charges against him. He replaced him with ally Acting Chief Justice Javed Iqbal.
Musharraf's moves sparked protests among Pakistani lawyers. On 12 March 2007, lawyers started a campaign called Judicial Activism across Pakistan and began boycotting all court procedures in protest against the suspension. In Islamabad, as well as other cities such as Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta hundreds of lawyers dressed in black suits attended rallies, condemning the suspension as unconstitutional. Slowly the expressions of support for the ousted Chief Justice gathered momentum and by May, protesters and opposition parties took out huge rallies against Musharraf and his tenure as army chief was also challenged in the courts.[96][97]
Lal Masjid had a religious school for women and the Jamia Hafsa madrassa, which was attached to the mosque. A male madrassa was only a few minutes drive away. The mosque often attended by prominent politicians including prime ministers, army chiefs, and presidents.[98]
The Lal Masjid administration had been in an escalating conflict with government authorities since January 2007.[98] Government officials accused the mosque leadership of organizing a vigilante "vice-squad" which conducted raids against brothels, kidnappings of corrupt police officers, and suspected prostitutes.[98] In April 2007, the mosque administration set up its own Islamic court in violation of government sanctions.[98] In July 2007, a confrontation occurred when government authorities sent officers for demolition of the mosque under the pretense that it was created illegally.[98]
This development led to a standoff between police forces and students (mostly female).[98] Mosque leaders and students refused to leave the mosque and the children's library. They remained within the mosque to prevent the demolition.[98][99] The situation was only defused after the authorities backed down and offered talks.[98]
But government forces did not back down. Pakistani troops stormed the building which led to a bloody siege that ended with the deaths of more than 100 people.[100][101]
Also on 8 August 2007, Benazir Bhutto spoke about her secret meeting with Musharraf on 27 July, in an interview on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
On 14 September 2007, Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim stated that Bhutto won't be deported, but must face corruption suits against her. He clarified Sharif's and Bhutto's right to return to Pakistan.[102] Bhutto returned from eight years exile on 18 October. On 17 September 2007, Bhutto accused Musharraf's allies of pushing Pakistan to crisis by refusal to restore democracy and share power. Musharraf called for a three day mourning period after Bhutto's assassination on 27 December 2007.
Sharif returned to Pakistan in September 2007, and was immediately arrested and taken into custody at the airport. He was sent back to Saudi Arabia.[103] Saudi intelligence chief Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud and Lebanese politician Saad Hariri arrived separately in Islamabad on 8 September 2007, the former with a message from Saudi King Abdullah and the latter after a meeting with Nawaz Sharif in London. After meeting President General Pervez Musharraf for two-and-a-half hours discussing Nawaz Sharif's possible return.[104] On arrival in Saudi Arabia, Nawaz Sharif was received by Prince Muqrin bin Abdul-Aziz, the Saudi intelligence chief, who had met Musharraf in Islamabad the previous day. That meeting had been followed by a rare press conference, at which he had warned that Sharif should not violate the terms of King Abdullah's agreement of staying out of politics for 10 years.[105]
On 2 October 2007, Musharraf named Lt. Gen. Ashfaq Kayani as vice chief of the army starting 8 October. When Musharraf resigned from military on 28 November 2007, Kayani became Chief of Army Staff.[106]
In a March 2007 interview, Musharraf said that he intended to stay in the office for another five years.[107]
A nine-member panel of Supreme Court judges deliberated on six petitions (including Jamaat-e-Islami's, Pakistan's largest Islamic group) for disqualification of Musharraf as presidential candidate. Bhutto stated that her party may join other opposition groups, including Sharif's.
On 28 September 2007, in a 6–3 vote, Judge Rana Bhagwandas's court removed obstacles to Musharraf's election bid.[108]
On 3 November 2007 Musharraf declared emergency rule across Pakistan. He suspended the Constitution, imposed State of Emergency, and fired the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court again.[109] In Islamabad, troops entered the Supreme Court building, arrested the judges and kept them under detention in their homes. Troops were deployed inside state-run TV and radio stations, while independent channels went off air. Public protests mounted against Musharraf.
General elections were held on 18 February 2008, in which the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) polled the highest votes and won the most seats. On 23 March 2008, President Musharraf said an "era of democracy" had begun in Pakistan and that he had put the country "on the track of development and progress." On 22 March, the PPP named former parliament speaker Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani as its candidate for the country's next prime minister, to lead a coalition government united against him.
On 7 August 2008, the Pakistan Peoples Party and the Pakistan Muslim League (N) agreed to force Musharraf to step down and begin his impeachment. Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif announced sending a formal request or joint charge sheet that he step down, and impeach him through parliamentary process upon refusal. Musharraf refused to step down.[110] A charge-sheet had been drafted, and was to be presented to parliament. It included Mr Musharraf’s first seizure of power in 1999—at the expense of Nawaz Sharif, the PML(N)’s leader, whom Mr Musharraf imprisoned and exiled—and his second last November, when he declared an emergency as a means to get re-elected president. The charge-sheet also listed some of Mr Musharraf’s contributions to the “war on terror”.[111]
Musharraf delayed his departure for the Beijing Olympics, by a day.[112][113] On 11 August, the government summoned the national assembly.[114]
On 18 August 2008, Musharraf resigned. On 19 August, he defended his nine-year rule in an hour-long speech.[115][116]
After his resignation, Musharraf went for a pilgrimage to Mecca. He then went on a lucrative speaking tour through the Middle East, Europe, and United States. Chicago-based Embark LLC was one of the international public-relations firms trying to land Musharraf as a highly paid keynote speaker.[117] According to Embark President David B. Wheeler, the speaking fee for Musharraf would be in the $150,000–200,000 range for a day plus jet and other V.I.P. arrangements on the ground.
Since quitting politics in 2008, Musharraf has been in London in self-imposed exile. Musharraf launched his own political party, the All Pakistan Muslim League, in June 2010.[118][119][120]
On 1 October 2010, Musharraf officially launched his political party as a President of the party, All Pakistan Muslim League.[121]
Since the start of 2011, news has been circulating that Musharraf will return to Pakistan before the next national elections. He himself has vowed this in several interviews. On Piers Morgan Tonight, Musharraf announced his plans to return to Pakistan on March 23, 2012 in order to seek the Presidency in 2013.
Regarding the Lahore attack on Sri Lankan players, Musharraf criticized the police commandos' inability to kill any of the gunmen, saying "If this was the elite force I would expect them to have shot down those people who attacked them, the reaction, their training should be on a level that if anyone shoots toward the company they are guarding, in less than three seconds they should shoot the man down."[122][123]
Regarding Blasphemy law in Pakistan, Musharraf cited that Pakistani nation is sensitive to religious issues and the Blasphemy law should stay.[124]
He also warned of a new military coup[125] and said the military must play a bigger role in order to gain stability in Pakistan.[126]
On October 24, 2011 he visited Washington College to talk about "Pakistan, regional security and terrorism" [127]
The PML-N has tried to get Pervez Musharraf to stand trial in an article 6 trial for treason in relation to the emergency on November 3, 2007.[128] The Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gilani has said a consensus resolution is required in national assembly for an article 6 trial of Pervez Musharraf[129] “I have no love lost for Musharraf ... if parliament decides to try him, I will be with parliament. Article 6 cannot be applied to one individual ... those who supported him are today in my cabinet and some of them have also joined the PML-N ... the MMA, the MQM and the PML-Q supported him ... this is why I have said that it is not doable,” said the Prime Minister while informally talking to editors and also replying to questions by journalists at an Iftar-dinner he had hosted for them.[130] Meanwhile, Proclamation of Emergency and Revocation is the constitutional right of the President of Pakistan, according to the constitution of Pakistan, Article 232 and Article 236.[131] On 15 February 2008, the Supreme Court has delivered detailed judgement to validate the Proclamation of Emergency on 3 November 2007, the Provisional Constitution Order No 1 of 2007 and the Oath of Office (Judges) Order, 2007.[132] Saudi Arabia has agreements in place to stop any article 6 trial in Pakistan in relation to Pervez Musharraf due to Saudi Arabia's long standing friendship with all of the political parties in Pakistan.[133][134] Sharif is under tremendous pressure from Saudi Arabia to shun his demand for Musharraf’s trial under the Article Six of the Constitution[135]
Abbottabad's district and sessions judge in a missing person's case passed judgment asking the authorities to declare Pervez Musharraf a proclaimed offender.[136] On February 11, 2011 the Anti Terrorism Court,[137] issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf and charged him with conspiracy to commit murder of Benazir Bhutto. On 8 March 2011, the Sindh High Court registered treason charges against him.[138]
Musharraf is the second son with two brothers — Javed and Naved.[4][5][12] Javed became a high-ranking foreign service officer in the Pakistan Army.[12] Naved is an anesthesiologist who has lived in Chicago since his medical residency at Cook County Hospital in 1956.[4][12] Naved is married to an American wife - Linda - and has two children.[12]
Musharraf married Sehba on 28 December 1968.[11] Sehba is from Okara. They have a daughter, Ayla, and a son, Bilal.[12][139] He named Bilal after a close friend that died in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.[4] Bilal is an actuary in Boston for the state government of Massachusetts.[4] Bilal is married.[12] Ayla is an architect married to a musician and they have a daughter Mariam.[12]
Musharraf published his autobiography — In the Line of Fire: A Memoir — in 2006.
As President, he had two Pekingese pet dogs.[20]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Khalid Latif Mughal |
Core-Commander I Strike Corps 1995–1998 |
Succeeded by Saleem Haider |
| Preceded by Jehangir Karamat |
Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee 1998–2001 |
Succeeded by Aziz Khan |
| Chief of Army Staff 1998–2007 |
Succeeded by Ashfaq Parvez Kayani |
|
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Zia-ul-Haq as Held this post until his death in 1988 |
Chief Martial Law Administrator (Chief Executive) 1999–2002; 2007-2008 |
Succeeded by None as Post abolished |
| Preceded by Nawaz Sharif |
Minister of Defence 1999–2002 |
Succeeded by Rao Sikandar Iqbal |
| Preceded by Muhammad Rafiq Tarar |
President of Pakistan 2001–2008 |
Succeeded by Asif Ali Zardari |
| Preceded by Post created |
President of All Pakistan Muslim League 2010–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
|
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