Pervez Musharraf

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Perves Musharraf

History Of Pervez Musharraf

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 10th President of Pakistan as well as 10th 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 resigned 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) where he sent thousands of young Pakistan Army and paramilitary staff to waste their blood in the war against the Northern Alliance. After months of contentious relations with Sharif, Musharraf took power through a bloodless military coup, and placed him in under an unconstitutional 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. however, later during his 8 year reign, he is blamed for leadig Pakistan towards the worst energy and sugar crises in her history. His limited popularity suffered after his suspension of the Supreme Court Chief Justice and the Lal Masjid siege. His attempt to institute emergency rule failed as calls for his impeachment escalated. The return of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif from exile fast-tracked the nation towards parliamentary democracy ending Musharraf's reign.

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.

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff

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] Prime minister Sharif saw this suggestion as General Karamat's involvement in politics, therefore Sharif forced General Karamat to resigned.^[18] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally promoted as 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, in merit, to General Musharraf. General Ali Kuli Khan Khattak was a highly competent officer who held most of the prestigious assignments in the Army, and belonged to respected Muhajir family.^[23] Later, Sharif promoted General Musharraf to another and most prestigious four-star assignment in the Pakistan Armed Forces, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee when Musharraf insisted Sharif.^[23] Admiral Fasih Bokhari, who was much senior to Musharraf on both merit and experience, resigned in protest when General Musharraf superseded the Admiral.^[23] According to Abdul Qadeer Khan, Sharif's promotion awarded to Musharraf was illegal as he was unqualified and incompetent and it was the biggest blunder and unforgettable mistake made by Nawaz Sharif.^[23]

 Kargil Conflict

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][24] Sharif and Musharraf dispute on who was responsible for the Kargil conflict and Pakistan's withdrawal.^[25]

1999 coup

Main article: 1999 Pakistani coup d'état

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.^[26] To quiet rumors of a fallout between Musharraf and Sharif, Sharif officially certified Musharraf's remaining two years of his term on September 30.^[26][27]

Musharraf had left for a weekend trip to take part in Sri Lanka's Army's 50th-anniversary celebrations.^[28] After hearing news of his possible sacking, Musharraf rushed on Pakistan International Airlines flight from Colombo to Karachi on October 12.^[29] The military had already begun to mobilize troops towards Islamabad from nearby Rawalpindi.^[29] Sharif formally declared Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director Khwaja Ziauddin to replace Musharraf as Army Chief on national television at the Aiwan-e-Sadr presidential palace.^[28][29] The military placed Sharif under house arrest,^[30][30] but in a last ditch effort Sharif privately ordered Karachi air traffic controllers to redirect Musharraf's flight to Nawabshah where Sharif's own security team were ready to put Musharraf in custody.^[26][29] The plan failed after soldiers in Karachi surrounded the airport control tower.^[29][31] At 2:50 AM on October 13,^[30] Musharraf addressed the nation with a pre-recorded message.^[29]

Musharraf met with President Rafiq Tarar on October 13 to deliberate on legitimizing the coup.^[32] 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.^[31][33] He also quickly purged the government of political enemies, notably Ziauddin and national airline chief Shahid Khaqan Abbassi.^[31] On October 17, he gave his second national address and established a seven-member military-civilian council to govern the country.^[34][35] He named three retired military officers and a judge as provincial administrators on October 21.^[36]

There were no organized protests within the country to the coup.^[35][37] The coup was widely criticized by the international community.^[38] Consequently, Pakistan was suspended from the Commonwealth of Nations.^[39][40] Sharif was put under house arrest and later exiled to Saudi Arabia.^[41]

First days

Musharraf's first foreign visit was to Saudi Arabia on October 26 where he met with King Fahd.^[42][43] After meeting senior Saudi royals, the next day he went to Medina and performed Umrah in Mecca.^[42] On October 28, he went to United Arab Emirates before returning home.^[42][43]

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.^[44][45] In early November, he released details of his assets to the public.^[46]

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.^[47][48] Though United States President Bill Clinton pressured Musharraf to ban the alleged group behind the hijacking — Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,^[49] Pakistani officials refused because of fears of reprisal from political parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami.^[50]

In March 2000, Musharraf banned political rallies.^[37]

Sharif trial and exile

The army held Sharif under house arrest at a government guesthouse^[51] and opened his Lahore home to the public in late October 1999.^[44] He was formally indicted in November^[51] 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.^[52][53] His trial began in early March 2000 in an anti-terrorism court,^[54] which are designed for speedy trials.^[55] He testified Musharraf began preparations of a coup after the Kargil conflict.^[54] 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.^[56] Sharif's defense team blamed the military for intentionally providing their lawyers with inadequate protection.^[56] The court proceedings were widely accused of being a show trial.^[57][58][59] 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.

Constitutional changes

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.

Relations with India

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.^[69][70][71]

In the mid-2004, Musharraf began a series of talks with India to resolve the Kashmir dispute.

[edit] Relations with Saudi Arabia

In 2006, King Abdullah visited Pakistan for the first time as King. Musharraf honored King Abdullah with the Nishan-e-Pakistan.^[72] Musharraf received the King Abdul-Aziz Medallion in 2007.^[73]

[edit] Nuclear scandals

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.^[74] 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.

 Musharraf With USA President

Suspension and reinstatement of the Chief Justice

Main article: Suspension of Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry

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.

Lal Masjid siege

Main article: Siege of Lal Masjid

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.

The Lal Masjid administration had been in an escalating conflict with government authorities since January 2007. 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. In April 2007, the mosque administration set up its own Islamic court in violation of government sanctions. In July 2007, a confrontation occurred when government authorities sent officers for demolition of the mosque under the pretense that it was created illegally.

This development led to a standoff between police forces and students (mostly female). Mosque leaders and students refused to leave the mosque and the children's library. They remained within the mosque to prevent the demolition. The situation was only defused after the authorities backed down and offered talks.

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.

Return of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif

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. 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.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. 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.

Resignation from the Army

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.

2007 Elections

Main article: Pakistani presidential election, 2007

In a March 2007 interview, Musharraf said that he intended to stay in the office for another five years.

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.

Perves Musharraf Imposed Emergency

Pervez Musharraf

Pervez Musharraf In Uniform

Pervez Musharraf Dogs

Pervez Musharraf