R Krishna Das
Pervez Musharraf, the ‘saviour general’ who directly ruled the country, will be remembered for bringing the democratic process in Pakistan to an abrupt halt.
Following in the footsteps of military strongmen Ayub Khan and Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, Pervez Musharraf served as ‘chief executive’ of Pakistan after the 1999 coup. Initially as military, and finally civilian, president before stepping down in 2008 fearing impeachment.
Musharraf, whose autocratic style and eco resulted in Kargil war in which Pakistan faced yet another frontline disgrace, breathed his last at age of 79 in Dubai, after a protracted battle with the rare disease amyloidosis. After the Kargil war, he allegedly refused to take back the bodies of 697 soldiers killed in the combat.
Musharraf violated the Constitution twice and is Pakistan’s only military ruler to be sentenced to death for high treason for imposing his second emergency in 2007. Call it a Musharraf’s mystery; if he was dubbed as an authoritarian ruler, he equally presented himself as a liberal reformer.
The General’s political journey started with a note of high drama when his flight from Sri Lanka was initially not allowed to land in Karachi. The plane landed and changed the course of Pakistan’s history. The army leadership staged a coup to remove the elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. He was sentenced on charges of hijacking and terrorism.
With the Saudi intervention, Sharif and his family could escape the Musharraf menace and remain in exile in the kingdom for several years. General Musharraf became the master of all he measured. But the events of 9/11 in the United States brought the region into the global spotlight once again, with the West more than happy to work with the general to achieve their goals in Afghanistan. Though Pakistan has to pay a heavy price for it.
In his civilian President role, Musharraf tried to create an atmosphere of liberalism in the country and started the process of accountability, which literally landed him in controversy. He liberalised the media ecosystem but ironically cracked down on the press during his second emergency.
Despite his reputation as the man responsible for the Kargil debacle, he advocated for peace with India and drafted the formula of Naya Kashmir with India’s then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh after a meeting of both the leaders in the United States in 2004. Quite surprising, Musharraf’s formula was disowned by the Pakistan Army that he once headed and was under his control. The double game of General stood exposed.
Musharraf’s mistakes were considerable, the biggest and most unforgivable being the derailing of the constitutional order. Under his regime, the situation in Balochistan worsened after the killing of Akbar Bugti in 2006. Pakistan is still paying its cost!
