New Delhi: Former Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf on Sunday breathed his last after a prolonged illness. He was 79 at the time of his death. He had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dubai for some time.
Musharraf, who had been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016, took over Pakistan after dethroning Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless military coup in 1999. In 2001, he appointed himself as the president and went on to rule the Islamic nation till 2008, while remaining head of the army.
ALSO READ: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Passes Away In Dubai
In November 2007, the former leader, who masterminded the 1999 Kargil War, imposed a state of emergency in Pakistan, suspended the constitution, replaced the chief judge, and blacked out independent TV stations.
His actions drew sharp criticism from the United States, and advocates of democracy and Pakistanis publicly demanded his dismissal.
He later lifted the state of emergency and called for the country's first democratic elections in 11 years, held in February 2008, in which his party fared badly.
Ex-Military Ruler Was Forced To Leave Pakistan
In August 2008, Musharraf resigned after the ruling coalition government started taking steps to impeach him.
Musharraf then emigrated to London in a self-imposed exile, fearing arrest for charges relating to his time in power. He returned to Pakistan in 2013 to run for a seat in parliament but was immediately disqualified by the Pakistani court.
Upon his return, he became entangled in a web of court cases relating to the imposition of the 2007 state of emergency and the assassination of former PM Benazir Bhutto the same year. Other charges include the death of a cleric during a siege at the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007.
In March 2016, Musharraf moved to Dubai after Pakistan’s Supreme Court lifted a three-year travel ban, allowing him to leave the country to seek medical treatment there.
In 2019, a court sentenced him to death in absentia for the 2007 imposition of emergency rule but the verdict was later overturned.
Musharraf’s family announced in June 2022 that he had been hospitalized for weeks in Dubai while suffering from amyloidosis, an incurable condition that sees proteins build up in the body’s organs.
Shazia Siraj, a spokeswoman for the Pakistani Consulate in Dubai and the embassy in Abu Dhabi, confirmed his death today, saying "I can confirm that he passed away this morning."
The Pakistani military also offered its condolences. “May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family,” a military statement said.
