Pervez Musharraf (Urdu: پرویز مشرف, romanized: Parvez Muśarraf; born 11 August 1943) is a Pakistani politician and a retired four-star general who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of the federal government in 1999. He held the presidency from 2001 until 2008, when he tendered his resignation to avoid impeachment.[2][3][4][5]
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Born in Delhi during the British Raj, Musharraf was raised in Karachi and Istanbul. He studied mathematics at Forman Christian College in Lahore and was also educated at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom. Musharraf entered the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and was commissioned to the Pakistan Army in 1964, playing an active role in the Afghan civil war.[6] Musharraf saw action during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 as a second lieutenant. By the 1980s, he was commanding an artillery brigade. In the 1990s, Musharraf was promoted to major general and assigned an infantry division, and later commanded the Special Services Group. Soon after, he also served as deputy military secretary and director general of military operations.[7]
Musharraf rose to national prominence when he was promoted to four-star general by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998, making Musharraf the head of the armed forces. He led the Kargil infiltration that almost brought India and Pakistan to a full-fledged war in 1999.[8] After months of contentious relations between Sharif and Musharraf, Sharif unsuccessfully attempted to remove Musharraf as the army's leader. In retaliation, the army staged a coup d'état in 1999, which allowed Musharraf to take over Pakistan as president in 2001. He subsequently placed Sharif under strict house arrest before launching official criminal proceedings against him.[9]
Musharraf initially remained the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Chief of the Army Staff, relinquishing the former position upon confirmation of his presidency. However, he remained the Army Chief until retiring in 2007.[10] The initial stages of his presidency featured controversial wins in a state referendum to grant him a five-year term limit, and a general election in 2002.[11] During his presidency, he advocated for the Third Way, adopting a synthesis of conservatism and socialism. Musharraf reinstated the constitution in 2002, though it was heavily amended within the Legal Framework Order. He appointed Zafarullah Jamali and later Shaukat Aziz as Prime Minister, and oversaw directed policies against terrorism, becoming a key player in the American-led war on terror.[8]
Musharraf pushed for social liberalism under his enlightened moderation program and promoted economic liberalisation, while he also banned trade unions.[12] Musharraf's presidency coincided with a rise of overall gross domestic product by around 50%; in the same period, domestic savings declined, and economic inequality rose at a rapid rate. Musharraf's government has also been accused of human rights abuses,[13][14][15] and he survived a number of assassination attempts during his presidency. When Aziz departed as prime minister, and after approving the suspension of the judicature in 2007, Musharraf's position weakened dramatically.[8] Tendering his resignation to avoid impeachment in 2008, Musharraf emigrated to London in a self-imposed exile.[8] His legacy as leader is mixed; he saw the emergence of a more assertive middle class, but an open disregard for civilian institutions greatly weakened democracy in Pakistan.[16]
Musharraf returned to Pakistan in 2013 to participate in that year's general election, but was disqualified from participating after the country's high courts issued arrest warrants for him and Aziz for their alleged involvement in the assassinations of Nawab Akbar Bugti and Benazir Bhutto.[17] Upon Sharif's re-election in 2013, he initiated high treason charges against Musharraf for implementing emergency rule and suspending the constitution in 2007.[18] The case against Musharraf continued after Sharif's removal from office in 2017, the same year in which Musharraf was declared an "absconder" in the Bhutto assassination case by virtue of moving to Dubai.[19] In 2019, Musharraf was sentenced to death in absentia for the treason charges,[20][21][22] although, the death sentence was later annulled by the Lahore High Court.[23]
Early life
British India
Musharraf was born on 11 August 1943 to an Urdu-speaking family in Delhi, British India,[24][25][26] the son of Syed Musharrafuddin[27] and his wife Begum Zarin Musharraf (c. 1920–2021).[28][29][30][31] His family were Muslims who were also Sayyids, claiming descent from prophet Muhammad.[32] Syed Musharraf graduated from Aligarh Muslim University and entered the civil service, which was an extremely prestigious career under British rule.[33] He came from a long line of government officials as his great-grandfather was a tax collector while his maternal grandfather was a qazi (judge).[27] Musharraf's mother Zarin, born in the early 1920s, grew up in Lucknow and received her schooling there, after which she graduated from Indraprastha College at Delhi University, taking a bachelor's degree in English literature. She then married and devoted herself to raising a family.[25][32] His father, Syed, was an accountant who worked at the foreign office in the British Indian government and eventually became an accounting director.[27]
Musharraf was the second of three children, all boys. His elder brother, Javed Musharraf, based in Rome, is an economist and one of the directors of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.[34] His younger brother, Naved Musharraf, is an anaesthesiologist based in Illinois, US.[34]
At the time of his birth, Musharraf's family lived in a large home that belonged to his father's family for many years called Nehar Wali Haveli, which means "House Next to the Canal".[27] Sir Syed Ahmed Khan's family lived next door. It is indicative of "the family's western education and social prominence" that the house's title deeds, although written entirely in Urdu, were signed by Musharraf's father in English.[35]
Pakistan and Turkey
Musharraf was four years old when India achieved independence and Pakistan was created as the homeland for India's Muslims. His family left for Pakistan in August 1947, a few days before independence.[29][35][36] His father joined the Pakistan Civil Services and began to work for the Pakistani government; later, his father joined the Foreign Ministry, taking up an assignment in Turkey.[29] In his autobiography In the Line of Fire: A Memoir, Musharraf elaborates on his first experience with death, after falling off a mango tree.[37]
Musharraf's family moved to Ankara in 1949, when his father became part of a diplomatic deputation from Pakistan to Turkey.[33][38] He learned to speak Turkish.[39][40] He had a dog named Whiskey that gave him a "lifelong love for dogs".[33] He played sports in his youth.[29][41] In 1956, he left Turkey[33][38] and returned to Pakistan in 1957[39] where he attended Saint Patrick's School in Karachi and was accepted at the Forman Christian College University in Lahore.[33][42][43] At Forman, Musharraf chose mathematics as a major in which he excelled academically, but later developed an interest in economics.[44]
Initial military career
In 1961, at the age of 18,[32] Musharraf entered the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul.[41][45] During his college years at PMA and initial joint military testings, Musharraf shared a room with PQ Mehdi of the Pakistan Air Force and Abdul Aziz Mirza of the Navy (both reached four-star assignments and served with Musharraf later on) and after giving the exams and entrance interviews, all three cadets went to watch a world-acclaimed Urdu film, Savera (lit. Dawn), with his inter-services and college friends, Musharraf recalls, In the Line of Fire, published in 2006.[32] With his friends, Musharraf passed the standardise, physical, psychological, and officer-training exams, he also took discussions involving the socioeconomics issues; all three were interviewed by joint military officers who were designated as Commandants.[32] The next day, Musharraf along with PQ Mehdi and Mirza, reported to PMA and they were selected for their respective training in their arms of commission.[32]
Finally, in 1964, Musharraf graduated with a Bachelor's degree in his class of 29th PMA Long Course together with Ali Kuli Khan and his lifelong friend Abdul Aziz Mirza.[46] He was commissioned in the artillery regiment as second lieutenant and posted near the Indo-Pakistan border.[46][47] During this time in the artillery regiment, Musharraf maintained his close friendship and contact with Mirza through letters and telephones even in difficult times when Mirza, after joining the Navy Special Service Group, was stationed in East-Pakistan as a military advisor to Eastern Corps.[32]
Indo-Pakistani conflicts (1965–1971)
His first battlefield experience was with an artillery regiment during the intense fighting for the Khemkaran sector in the Second Kashmir War.[48] He also participated in the Lahore and Sialkot war zones during the conflict.[40] During the war, Musharraf developed a reputation for sticking to his post under shellfire.[36] He received the Imtiazi Sanad medal for gallantry.[38][41]
Shortly after the end of the War of 1965, he joined the elite Special Service Group (SSG).[39][46] He served in the SSG from 1966 to 1972.[39][49] He was promoted to captain and to major during this period.[39] During the 1971 war with India, he was a company commander of an SSG commando battalion.[40] During the 1971 war he was scheduled to depart to East-Pakistan to join the army-navy joint military operations, but the deployment was cancelled after Indian Army advances towards Southern Pakistan.[32]
Professorship (1972–1990)
Musharraf was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1974;[39] and to colonel in 1978.[50] As staff officer in the 1980s, he studied political science at the National Defense University (NDU), and then briefly tenured as assistant professor of war studies at the Command and Staff College and then assistant professor of political science also at NDU.[46][47][49] One of his professors at NDU was general Jehangir Karamat who served Musharraf's guidance counselor and instructor who had significant influence on Musharraf's philosophy and critical thinking.[51] He did not play any significant role in Pakistan's proxy war in the 1979–1989 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[49] In 1987, he became a brigade commander of a new brigade of the SSG near Siachen Glacier.[26] He was personally chosen by then-President and Chief of Army Staff general Zia-ul-Haq for this assignment due to Musharraf's wide experience in mountain and arctic warfare.[52] In September 1987, Musharraf commanded an assault at Bilafond La before being pushed back.[26]
He studied at the Royal College of Defense Studies (RCDS) in Britain during 1990–91.[40] His course-mate included Major-generals B. S. Malik and Ashok Mehta[52] of the Indian Army, and Ali Kuli Khan of Pakistan Army.[52] In his course studies, Musharraf performed extremely in relation to his classmates, submitted his master's degree thesis, titled "Impact of Arm Race in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent", and earned good remarks.[52] He submitted his thesis to Commandant General Antony Walker who regarded Musharraf as one of his finest students he had seen in his entire career.[52] At one point, Walker described Musharraf: "A capable, articulate and extremely personable officer, who made a valuable impact at RCDS. His country is fortunate to have the services of a man of his undeniable quality."[52] He graduated with a master's degree from RCDS and returned to Pakistan soon after.[52] Upon returning in the 1980s, Musharraf took an interest in the emerging Pakistani rock music genre, and often listened to rock music after leaving duty.[32] During that decade, regarded as the time when rock music in Pakistan began, Musharraf was reportedly keen on the popular Western fashions of the time, which were then very popular in government and public circles.[32] Whilst in the Army he earned the nickname "Cowboy" for his westernized ways and his fashion interest in Western clothing.[49][50]
Early commandant (1991–1995)
Earlier in 1988–89, as Brigadier, Musharraf proposed the Kargil infiltration to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but she rebuffed the plan.[53] In 1991–93, he secured a two-star promotion, elevating him to the rank of major general and held the command of 40th Army Division as its GOC, stationed in Okara Military District in Punjab Province.[52] In 1993–95, Major-General Musharraf worked closely with the Chief of Army Staff as Director-General of Pakistan Army's Directorate General for the Military Operations (DGMO).[50] During this time, Musharraf became close to engineering officer and director-general of ISI lieutenant-general Javed Nasir and had worked with him while directing operations in Bosnian war.[52][54] His political philosophy was influenced by Benazir Bhutto[55] who mentored him on various occasions, and Musharraf generally was close to Benazir Bhutto on military policy issues on India.[55] From 1993 to 1995, Musharraf repeatedly visited the United States as part of the delegation of Benazir Bhutto.[55] It was Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman who lobbied for his promotion to Benazir Bhutto, and subsequently getting Musharraf's promotion papers approved by Benazir Bhutto, which eventually led to his appointment in Benazir Bhutto's key staff.[56] In 1993, Musharraf personally assisted Benazir Bhutto to have a secret meeting at the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, D.C. with officials from the Mossad and a special envoy of Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin.[55] It was during this time Musharraf built an extremely cordial relationship with Shaukat Aziz who, at that time, was serving as the executive president of global financial services of the Citibank.[55]
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.[49] On policy issues, Musharraf befriended senior justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Rafiq Tarar (later president) and held common beliefs with the latter.[52]
His last military field operations posting was in the Mangla region of the Kashmir Province in 1995 when Benazir Bhutto approved the promotion of Musharraf to three-star rank, Lieutenant-General.[52] Between 1995 and 1998, Lieutenant-General Musharraf was the corps commander of I Strike Corps (CC-1) stationed in Mangla, Mangla Military District.[46]
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