Pervez Musharraf Wiki, Age, Death, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Pervez Musharraf was a Pakistani politician and retired four-star general of the Pakistan Army. He served as the 10th President of Pakistan from 2001 until tendering his resignation in 2008. He was also known to lead the Kargil War against India in 1999. On 5 February 2023, he died at a hospital in Dubai.

Wiki/Biography

He was born in Old Delhi, British India on Wednesday, 11 August 1943 (age 79 years; at the time of death). Musharraf went to Saint Patrick’s High School, Karachi. His military service was from 1961–2007 in the Regiment Artillery Unit. Musharraf has commanded- Corps, XII Corps, Special Services Group, DG Military operations, 40th Army Division, Okara. Also known as, “cowboy”, “mush”, “palloo”, went to study mathematics at Forman Christian College, Lahore. Pervez graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in his class of 29th PMA Long Course in 1964 and Pursued a Master’s at the Royal College of Defense Studies, Britain in 1990. He also attended Pakistan Military Academy, Kakul, Abbottabad, Command and Staff College, Quetta, Balochistan. A Sunni by caste, Pervez had reading and travelling as hobbies.

Address/House

Pervez Musharraf resides in Chak Shahzad, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Net worth

His net worth was approximately $6.1 million (as of 2013).

Favorites

• He enjoys reading and traveling. 

• His favorite subjects were Economics and Mathematics.

• Pervez Musharraf’s favorite destination happens to be Dubai.

Political Journey

Pervez Musharraf was associated with two parties All Pakistan Muslim League and Pakistan Muslim League (Qaid e Azam Group). His political journey started on 12 October 1999, when he led a coup against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and became head of government. On 20 June 2001, he appointed himself President of Pakistan. Then later in August 2002, he made 29 amendments to the constitution, granting himself the power to dissolve Parliament and remove the Prime Minister. A vote of confidence, on 1 January 2004, in Parliament allowed Musharraf to remain in power until 2007.  An unofficial vote count on 6th October 2007, indicated Musharraf had won by a landslide in the Presidential Election.  On 3 November 2007, he declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, suspended the country’s constitution, and postponed the January 2008 elections. In November 2007  he stepped down as the head of Pakistan’s Army and he took the Presidential oath of office for the third time. On 18 February 2008, Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, finished third in the parliamentary elections.  He announced his resignation on 18 August 2008, as President of Pakistan.  On 1 October 2010, Musharraf launched a new political party, the “All Pakistan Muslim League.”

Family

Musharraf was born to Syed Musharrafuddin (Pakistani Civil Servant and Diplomat) and Mother– Begum Zarin Musharraf. His brothers Dr. Javed Musharraf (an Economist; lives in Rome), Dr. Naved Musharraf (an Anesthesiologist; lives in Illinois, USA).

He got married to Sehba from Karachi on 28 December 1968. Musharraf is survived by a son –Bilal Musharraf, and a daughter- Ayla Musharraf (an architect married to film director Asim Raza).

Death

On 5 February 2023, he died of amyloidosis at American Hospital in Dubai. He was buried in a Karachi graveyard.

Controversies

• To win a controversial referendum on 1 May 2002, Pervez had become the President of Pakistan on 20 June 2001. His presidency witnessed the most controversial atomic scandals in the history of Pakistan after he authorized a sting operation to arrest two physicists Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmood and Chaudhry Abdul Majeed, due to their supposed connection with the Taliban.

• He again attracted controversy after Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan disclosed about the atomic proliferation.

• In September 2005, in an interview to the Washington Post, Musharraf’s remark that Pakistani rape victim women treated rape as a “moneymaking concern” and they do so to get a Canadian visa, attracted controversy both internationally and in Pakistan.

• He also attracted controversy by suspending the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. On 23 November 2008, he left for exile in London after he refused an impeachment procedure against him. He condemned the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.

• On 16 April 2013, he was disqualified to fight elections by an electoral tribunal in Chitral and 10 days later on the Islamabad High Court ordered house arrest for Musharraf in connection with the death of Benazir Bhutto, and on 20 August 2013, a Pakistani court indicted Musharraf in the assassination of Bhutto. An F.I.R. was registered against Pervez Musharraf for his role in the Lal Masjid Operation 2007.

• On 31 August 2017, The anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi convicted him an “absconder” in Bhutto’s murder case.

• On 17 December 2019, he was sentenced to death by a three-judge Bench of a special court in Pakistan for high treason. Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai since March 2016, is facing treason charges for suspending the Constitution and imposing emergency rule in 2007, a punishable offence for which he was indicted in 2014.

 Facts

• Musharraf was born in Delhi, British India to a family that belonged to Sayyid nobility. During the 1947 India-Pakistan partition, his family moved to Pakistan. At that time, he was four years old.

• In his childhood, Pervez Musharraf was fondly called as “Palloo” by his mother and other family members.

• ‘Neharwali Haveli’ was the name of his ancestral home, which literally meant ‘house by the canal.’ Next door lived the family of Syed Ahmed Khan, an Indian Muslim pragmatist.

• His father, who was a Civil Servant in Pakistan, later joined Pakistan’s foreign ministry and in 1949, he took up an assignment in Turkey where he served as a diplomat. The family returned to Pakistan in 1956.

• Musharraf studied mathematics at the Forman Christian College, Lahore and performed quite well. He, however, developed an interest in Economics later on.

• He attended Pakistan Military Academy at just 18. While at college, Musharraf shared his room with PQ Mehdi of Pakistan Airforce and Abdul Aziz Mirza of Navy.
• After having joined Pakistan Army in 1964 with the artillery regiment in 1964, his first battleship experience was fighting for the Khemkaran sector in the Second Kashmir War in 1965. For his gallantry during the war, he was honored with the Imtiaz Sanad medal.

• Upon the recommendation of his commanding officer in Sialkot, Musharraf was selected to join the special force school. There, he passed some rigorous exams and underwent physically tough training.

• He then joined Special Service Group (SSG) for joint operations. Between 1966 and 1972, he was initially promoted to Army Captain and then to Major.

• Musharraf was a company commander of Commando battalion of SSG during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, which was fought between Pakistan and India.

• He studied political science at National Defence University in the 1980s and began working as an assistant professor of war studies at the Command and Staff College. He then joined the National Defence University as an assistant professor of political science.

• For his wide experience in mountain and arctic warfare, General Zia-ul-Haq, the then President of Pakistan and Chief of Army staff promoted him to the post of Brigade Commander of a new brigade of SSG and commissioned him near Siachen Glacier in 1987.

• Between 1988 and 1989, Musharraf was a Brigadier and had proposed the Kargil Infiltration to the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. It was, however, rejected by the latter.
• He began pursuing a Master’s at Royal College of Defense Studies, Britain in 1990 under the Commandant General Antony Walker. Musharraf graduated in 1991 with extremely good remarks because of his thesis titled “Impact of Arms Race in the Indo-Pak Subcontinent.”

• In 1991, he was promoted to Major General.

• On 7 October 1998, he was appointed the Chief of Army Staff with the rank of General.

• On 9 April 1999, he was appointed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• On 14 and 25 December 2003, two unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on Musharraf’s life.

• In 2006, Musharraf published his autobiography titled ‘In the Life of Fire: A Memoir.’

• While in Turkey, he had a dog named “Whiskey” that gave him a lifelong love for dogs.

• He has been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016.