Age, Biography and Wiki
- Born: August 11, 1943
- Died: February 5, 2023
- Nationality: Pakistani
- Pervez Musharraf was born in Delhi, British India, and rose to prominence as a military leader and politician. He served as the Chief of Army Staff from 1998 to 2007 and was instrumental in shaping Pakistan's political landscape during his presidency.
| Occupation | Philosophers |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 11 August 1943 |
| Age | 81 Years |
| Birth Place | Delhi, British India |
| Horoscope | Leo |
| Country | United Arab Emirates |
| Date of death | 5 February, 2023 |
| Died Place | Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.82 m)
- Unfortunately, detailed information about Musharraf's weight and other measurements is not readily available.
He studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) in Britain during 1990–91. His course-mates included Major-generals B. S. Malik and Ashok Mehta of the Indian Army, and Ali Kuli Khan of Pakistan Army. 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. 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. 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." He graduated with a master's degree from RCDS and returned to Pakistan soon after. 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. 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. While in the Army he earned the nickname "Cowboy" for his westernised ways and his fashion interest in Western clothing.
| Height | 82 m |
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Dating & Relationship status
- Musharraf was married to Sehba Musharraf. There is limited information available about his personal relationships beyond his marriage.
1920–2021). His family were Muslims who were also Sayyids, claiming descent from the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Syed Musharraf graduated from Aligarh Muslim University and entered the civil service, which was an extremely prestigious career under British rule. 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). 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. His father, Syed, was an accountant who worked at the foreign office in the British Indian government and eventually became an accounting director.
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". 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.
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. 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. In his autobiography In the Line of Fire: A Memoir, Musharraf elaborates on his first experience with death, after falling off a mango tree.
Musharraf's family moved to Ankara in 1949, when his father became part of a diplomatic deputation from Pakistan to Turkey. He learned to speak Turkish. He had a dog named Whiskey that gave him a "lifelong love for dogs". He played sports in his youth. In 1956, he left Turkey and returned to Pakistan in 1957 where he attended Saint Patrick's School in Karachi and was accepted at the Forman Christian College University in Lahore. At Forman, Musharraf chose mathematics as a major in which he excelled academically, but later developed an interest in economics.
Earlier in 1988–89, as Brigadier, Musharraf proposed the Kargil infiltration to Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto but she rebuffed the plan. In 1991–93, he secured a two-star promotion, elevating him to the rank of major general and held the command of 40th Division as its GOC, stationed in Okara Military District in Punjab Province. 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). 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. His political philosophy was influenced by Benazir Bhutto who mentored him on various occasions, and Musharraf generally was close to Benazir Bhutto on military policy issues on India. From 1993 to 1995, Musharraf repeatedly visited the United States as part of the delegation of Benazir Bhutto. 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. 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. 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.
After the Kargil incident, Musharraf did not wish to be the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs: Musharraf favoured the chief of naval staff Admiral Bokhari to take on this role, and claimed that: "he did not care" Prime minister Sharif was displeased by this suggestion, due to the hostile nature of his relationship with the Admiral. Musharraf further exacerbated his divide with Nawaz Sharif after recommending the forced retirement of senior officers close to the Prime minister, including Lieutenant-General Tariq Pervez (also known by his name's initials as TP), commander of XII Corps, who was a brother-in-law of a high profile cabinet minister. According to Musharraf, lieutenant-general TP was an ill-mannered, foul-mouthed, ill-disciplined officer who caused a great deal of dissent within the armed forces. Nawaz Sharif's announcement of the promotion of General Musharraf to Chairman Joint Chiefs caused an escalation of the tensions with Admiral Bokhari: upon hearing the news, he launched a strong protest against the Prime minister. The next morning, the Prime minister relieved Admiral Bokhari of his duties. It was during his time as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs that Musharraf began to build friendly relations with the United States Army establishment, including General Anthony Zinni, USMC, General Tommy Franks, General John Abizaid, and General Colin Powell of the US Army, all of whom were premier four-star generals.
Musharraf was the second son of his parents and had two brothers—Javed and Naved. Javed retired as a high-level official in Pakistan's civil service. Naved is an anaesthetist who has lived in Chicago since completing his residency training at Loyola University Medical Center in 1979.
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| Husband | Sehba (m. 1968) |
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Net Worth and salary
- Net Worth: Approximately $2 million at the time of his death.
- Musharraf's net worth was accumulated through his decades-long military service, political leadership, speaking engagements, and possibly book royalties.
Career, Business and Investments
- Military Career: Musharraf joined the Pakistan Military Academy in the early 1960s and rose through the ranks to become Chief of Army Staff in 1998. He played a crucial role in the Kargil Conflict and was a key figure in the war on terror.
- Political Career: Musharraf served as President of Pakistan from June 2001 to August 2008. He was also the Minister of Defense and Chief Executive of Pakistan from 1999 to 2002.
- Business and Investments: There is no significant information available about Musharraf's business ventures or investments beyond his political and military career.
Prior to his career in politics, he was a four-star general and appointed as the chief of Army Staff and, later, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 1998. He was the leading war strategist in the Kargil infiltration that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war in 1999. When prime minister Sharif unsuccessfully attempted to dismiss general Musharraf from his command assignments, the Army GHQ took over the control of the civilian government, which allowed him to control the military and the civilian government.
Shortly after the end of the War of 1965, he joined the elite Special Service Group (SSG). He served in the SSG from 1966 to 1972. He was promoted to captain and to major during this period. During the 1971 war with India, he was a company commander of an SSG commando battalion. 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.
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. Between 1995 and 1998, Lieutenant-General Musharraf was the corps commander of I Strike Corps (CC-1) stationed in Mangla, Mangla Military District.
After the elections, the PML-Q nominated Zafarullah Khan Jamali for the office of prime minister, which Musharraf also approved. After first session at the Parliament, Musharraf voluntarily transferred the powers of chief executive to Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali. Musharraf succeeded to pass the XVII amendment, which grants powers to dissolve the parliament, with approval required from the Supreme Court. Within two years, Jamali proved to be an ineffective prime minister as he forcefully implemented his policies in the country and caused problems with the business class elites. Musharraf accepted the resignation of Jamali and asked his close colleague Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to appoint a new prime minister in place. Hussain nominated Finance minister Shaukat Aziz, who had been impressive due to his performance as finance minister in 1999. Musharraf regarded Aziz as his right hand and preferable choice for the office of Prime minister. With Aziz appointed as Prime minister, Musharraf transferred all executive powers to Aziz as he trusted Shaukat Aziz. Aziz proved to be extremely capable in running the government; under his leadership economic growth reached to a maximum level, which further stabilised Musharraf's presidency. Aziz swiftly, quietly and quickly undermined the elements seeking to undermine Musharraf, which became a factor in Musharraf's trust in him. Between 2004 and 2007, Aziz approved many projects that did not require Musharraf's permission.
His cultural policies liberalised Pakistan's media, and he issued many television licences to the private-sector to open television centres and media houses. The television dramas, film industry, theatre, music and literature activities, were personally encouraged by Pervez Musharraf. Under his policies, the rock music bands gained a following in the country and many concerts were held each week. His cultural policies, the film, theatre, rock and folk music, and television programs were extremely devoted to and promoted the national spirit of the country. In 2001, Musharraf got on stage with the rock music band, Junoon, and sang the national song with the band.
Regarding the Lahore attack on Sri Lankan cricket players, Musharraf criticised the police commandos' inability to kill any of the gunmen, saying "If this was the elite force I would expect them to have shot down those people who attacked them, the reaction, their training should be on a level that if anyone shoots toward the company they are guarding, in less than three seconds they should shoot the man down."
Social Network
- Pervez Musharraf was not known for a strong presence on social media platforms, as his career and life were largely focused on military and political roles rather than digital engagement.
His first battlefield experience was with an artillery regiment during the intense fighting for the Khemkaran sector in the Second Kashmir War. He also participated in the Lahore and Sialkot war zones during the conflict. During the war, Musharraf developed a reputation for sticking to his post under shellfire. He received the Imtiazi Sanad medal for gallantry.
The presidency of Pervez Musharraf helped bring the liberal forces to the national level and into prominence, for the first time in the history of Pakistan. He granted national amnesty to the political workers of the liberal parties like Muttahida Qaumi Movement and Pakistan Muslim League (Q), and supported MQM in becoming a central player in the government. Musharraf disbanded the cultural policies of the previous Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and quickly adopted Benazir Bhutto's cultural policies after disbanding Indian channels in the country.
Another scandal arose as a consequence of disclosure by Pakistani nuclear physicist Abdul Qadeer Khan. On 27 February 2001, Musharraf spoke highly of Khan at a state dinner in Islamabad, and he personally approved Khan's appointment as Science Advisor to the Government. In 2004, Musharraf relieved Abdul Qadeer Khan from his post and initially denied knowledge of the government's involvement in nuclear proliferation, despite Khan's claim that Musharraf was the "Big Boss" of the proliferation ring. Following this, Musharraf authorised a national security hearing, which continued until his resignation from the army in 2007. According to Zahid Malik, Musharraf and the military establishment at that time acted against Abdul Qadeer Khan in an attempt to prove the loyalty of Pakistan to the United States and Western world.
In an interview given to The Washington Post in September 2005, Musharraf said that Pakistani women who had been the victims of rape treated rape as a "moneymaking concern", and were only interested in the publicity to make money and get a Canadian visa. He subsequently denied making these comments, but the Post made available an audio recording of the interview, in which Musharraf could be heard making the quoted remarks. Musharraf also denied Mukhtaran Mai, a Pakistani rape victim, the right to travel abroad, until pressured by US State Department. The remarks made by Musharraf sparked outrage and protests both internationally and in Pakistan by various groups i.e. women groups, activists. In a rally, held close to the presidential palace and Pakistan's parliament, hundreds of women demonstrated in Pakistan demanding Musharraf apologise for the controversial remarks about female rape victims.
On 27 July, Bhutto met for the first time with Musharraf in the UAE to discuss her return to Pakistan. On 14 September 2007, Deputy Information Minister Tariq Azim stated that Bhutto will not be deported, but must face corruption charges against her. He clarified Sharif's and Bhutto's right to return to Pakistan. On 17 September 2007, Bhutto accused Musharraf's allies of pushing Pakistan to crisis by refusal to restore democracy and share power. Bhutto returned from eight years exile on 18 October. Musharraf called for a three-day mourning period after Bhutto's assassination on 27 December 2007.
Education
- Musharraf attended the Pakistan Military Academy, where he began his military career. He later graduated from the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom.
In conclusion, Pervez Musharraf left a lasting impact on Pakistan's history through his military and political leadership. Despite his significant influence, his net worth remained relatively modest compared to other global leaders.
In 2014, Musharraf was declared an "absconder" in the Bugti and Bhutto assassination cases by virtue of moving to Dubai due to failing health. Finally in 2019, the Special Court found Musharraf of guilty of violating the constitution in 2007, and upheld a verdict that sentenced him to death in absentia. Musharraf died at age 79 in Dubai in 2023 after a prolonged case of amyloidosis. His legacy is seen as mixed; his time in power saw the emergence of a more assertive middle class, but his open disregard for civilian institutions greatly weakened democracy and the state of Pakistan.
Also 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.
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. He was commissioned in the artillery regiment as second lieutenant and posted near the Indo-Pakistan border. 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.
Musharraf was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1974; and to colonel in 1978. As staff officer in the 1980s, he studied political science at the National Defence 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. One of his professors at NDU was general Jehangir Karamat who served as Musharraf's guidance counsellor and instructor who had significant influence on Musharraf's philosophy and critical thinking. He did not play any significant role in Pakistan's proxy war in the 1979–1989 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In 1987, he became a brigade commander of a new brigade of the SSG near Siachen Glacier. 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. In September 1987, Musharraf commanded an assault at Bilafond La before being pushed back.
There were three lieutenant-generals potentially in line to succeed General Jehangir Karamat as chief of army staff. Musharraf was third-in-line and was well regarded by the general public and the armed forces. He also had an excellent academic standing from his college and university studies. Musharraf was strongly favoured by the Prime Minister's colleagues: a straight officer with democratic views. Nisar Ali Khan and Shahbaz Sharif recommended Musharraf and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally promoted Musharraf to the rank of four-star general to replace Karamat.
On 1 January 2004, Musharraf had won a confidence vote in the Electoral College of Pakistan, consisting of both houses of Parliament and the four provincial assemblies. Musharraf received 658 out of 1170 votes, a 56% majority, but many opposition and Islamic members of parliament walked out to protest the vote. As a result of this vote, his term was extended to 2007.
The Lal Masjid mosque in Islamabad 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. In April 2007, the mosque administration started to encourage attacks on local video shops, alleging that they were selling porn films; and massage parlours, which were alleged to be used as brothels. These attacks were often carried out by the mosque's female students. In July 2007, a confrontation occurred when government authorities made a decision to stop the student violence and send police officers to arrest the responsible individuals and the madrassa administration.
