General Pervaiz Musharraf will always be remembered for sabotaging the democratic process in the country. He followed in the footsteps of Ayub and Zia and ruled Pakistan directly.
Musharraf was serving as the ‘chief executive’ during the 1999 coup. Later, he became a Military and then a Civilian President finally. He was forced to step down when the impeachment sword seemed hovering over his head.
Musharraf is also accused of breaking the Constitution of Pakistan twice and is said to be the only military ruler who was given a death sentence for high treason for imposing the second emergency in 2007.
General Pervaiz Musharraf’s entry in the politics of Pakistan was nothing short of a drama. He was coming back to Karachi after a visit to Sri Lanka, when his plane was not allowed to land on the airport. What happened later changed the history of this country. The on-ground army leadership removed the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif through a coup and imposed the charges of terrorism and hijacking on him later. The Saudi government intervened and allowed the Sharif family to spend few years in their country as exile.
While many people criticise the coup, many liberals welcomed it because of the conservative actions taken by Sharif.
In the meanwhile, the devastating 9/11 incident happened and this region came in the spotlight. The West was comparatively more happy dealing with a General because of their “goals” in Afghanistan.
Musharraf promoted liberalism in the country and started the process of accountability.
He worked on a LG system and liberalised the media. Several media houses also became operational in his era .However, during his second emergency, a crack down on media sent all the previous efforts down the drain.
While many think that Musharraf is responsible for the Kargil debacle, he tried his best to initiate peace talks with India. It is also said that during his tenure, India and Pakistan were very close to reaching a solution for Kashmir for the first time in history.
Despite all the good things, Musharraf has done for the country, Pakistan will never forgive him for derailing the constitutional order. He realised that in order to survive in the system, there must be a political party and hence, All Pakistan Muslim League was born.
Under his rule, the situation in Balochistan got worse, the things are still not on track. It all started after the death of Akbar Bugti.
From General Musharraf to Mr. Musharraf, his era holds too many lessons for those who want to learn and unlearn in this environment.
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