Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan’s former military ruler, died in exile on Sunday in Dubai at the age of 79 following a long illness.
The late four-star general, who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999, led Pakistan for nine tumultuous years before resigning and leaving the country as a largely discredited figure.
He led Pakistan through the fallout from 9/11 attacks, which pushed Islamabad to join the US war in Afghanistan, and a massive earthquake in 2005 that killed at least 70,000 people. He also faced widespread unrest following the 2007 assassination of the late prime minister Benazir Bhutto before resigning a year later.
He spent most of his remaining years in exile and suffered from amyloidosis, a rare disease affecting the organs.
“I offer my condolences to the family of General (rtd) Pervez Musharraf,” Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “May the departed soul rest in peace.”
While abroad, Musharraf was sentenced to death in 2019 for imposing a state of emergency during his time in power, though the ruling was later overturned.
After stepping down as president, Musharraf launched a new political party, though it remained a peripheral player in Pakistani politics. While the army that he led remains the most powerful institution in Pakistan’s decision making, General Musharraf’s own legacy ended when he left office.
While the late general had enjoyed some popularity, his co-operation with the US turned him into a hate figure among many Pakistani nationalists and Islamists.
As Pakistan’s military pursued militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the country suffered multiple suicide and bomb attacks from hardline Islamist militants. Musharraf survived at least two failed assassination attempts.
Pakistan’s economy was aided by generous flows of US assistance, enjoying high growth rates, a successful privatisation of the telecom sector and banks and a growth in exports. Together, these trends lifted Musharraf’s popularity among businessmen.
But his government failed to end decades old bureaucratic obstacles, which got in the way of sustained recovery in years after Musharraf left office in 2008.
Musharraf also tried — largely unsuccessfully — to reshape Pakistan’s relations with India.
In 2001, in a historic visit to Delhi and Agra he sought a fresh rapprochement to reverse a major slide in relations following a border conflict between Indian and Pakistani troops two years earlier. Indian officials accused Musharraf of having personally overseen an incursion of Pakistani troops along the disputed border in Kashmir.
Credit: Source link
