Pervez Musharraf: Pakistan’s last military ruler

The four-star general, who is known for drinking whisky, took power in a peaceful coup in 1999 before joining Washington in its military intervention in neighboring Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks.

Musharraf ruled the country for nearly nine years, during which time he avoided at least three attempts to assassinate members of Al-Qaeda while also overseeing a period of economic expansion.

However, the blatant blurring of the distinction between the state and the army was not concealed by his liberal credentials.

His famous remark that “the constitution is just a piece of paper to be thrown in the dustbin” has caused controversy in a nation that has experienced at least four military coups since its founding in 1947.

He used Napoleon and Richard Nixon as examples of leadership in his memoir “In the Line of Fire.” Both men were known for their tenacity, but their arrogance led to their downfall.

On August 11, 1943, “forceful moderate” Musharraf was born in Old Delhi. Shortly after Pakistan’s independence, his family moved there.

He claimed that when he was a young boy, he fell from a mango tree for the first time.

At the age of 18, he enrolled in the Pakistan Military Academy and became a commando approximately five years later. He progressed through the ranks until he was appointed chief of army staff by then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998.

Musharraf, as army chief, oversaw the brief, high-altitude “Kargil conflict” in Kashmir that almost resulted in Pakistan going to war with India, a nuclear rival.

When he overthrew Sharif in a peaceful coup in 1999, many Pakistanis distributed sweets to mark the end of a corrupt and disastrous economic administration.

In a 2002 referendum, Musharraf won a five-year term as president, but he didn’t quit as army chief until late 2007.

There was a popular joke, it was said, when he was in charge of Islamabad: What differentiates Musharraf from God? God does not believe him to be Musharraf.

After the attacks of September 11, 2001, he joined the United States and received international praise for his efforts to combat Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

He was referred to as “a strong, forceful leader (who) has become a target of those who can’t stand the thought of moderation prevailing” by the US president at the time, George W. Bush.

When Musharraf tried to fire the country’s chief justice in March 2007, it sparked nationwide protests and months of chaos, prompting him to declare a state of emergency.

The national mood deteriorated even further after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in December 2007 and his allies suffered crushing losses in the 2008 elections, leaving him isolated.

Ignorant return He eventually resigned in the face of the governing coalition’s impeachment proceedings and went into exile.

However, in 2013, he went back to Pakistan, purportedly to run for office and “save” the nation from militancy and economic ruin.

Instead of receiving a hero’s welcome, he received a torrent of criminal cases, ridicule, and apathy.

His plans to return to power were dashed when he was disqualified from running in an election won by Nawaz Sharif, the very man he deposed in 1999. The Taliban also threatened to kill him, and the local media made fun of his ambitions.

Musharraf was also accused of killing Bhutto. He was put under house arrest, which made him look helpless and alone as the various cases against him moved through the courts.

After a travel ban was lifted in 2016, Musharraf went to Dubai for treatment.

He was found guilty of treason in absentia three years later for his decision to impose emergency rule in 2007. The ruling was later overturned by a court.