Pervez Musharraf (Former President)

Pervez Musharraf (11 August 1943 to 5 February 2023) was a four-star general in the Pakistan Army who took office as the country’s eleventh president in 1999 after a successful military coup. In addition, he held the positions of 7th Chief of Army Staff from 1998 to 2007 and 10th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 1998 to 2001. Musharraf, who was born in Delhi during the British Raj, was raised in Istanbul and Karachi. In addition to receiving his education at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the UK, he studied mathematics at Forman Christian College in Lahore.

At 1961, Musharraf enrolled in the Pakistan Military Academy. In 1964, he received a commission into the  Pakistan Army‘s artillery regiment. As a second lieutenant in the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, Musharraf saw battle. He was in charge of an artillery brigade by the 1980s. Musharraf received an infantry division when he was promoted to major general in the 1990s, and he later oversaw the Special Services Group. Soon after, he was also director general of military operations and deputy military secretary. He actively participated in the Afghan civil war by promoting Pakistani Taliban support.

When he was officially confirmed as president, Musharraf gave up his position as Chief of the Army Staff but continued to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He didn’t leave his position as Army Chief until 2007. His disputed victories in a state referendum to give him a five-year term limit and a general election in 2002 marked the beginning of his reign.

Early Lifestyle

Musharraf was born on 11 August 1943 to an Urdu-speaking family in Delhi, British India, Musharraf’s parents were Syed Musharrafuddin and Begum Zareen Musharraf. Pervez Musharraf’s great-grandfather was a tobacconist who immigrated to the Indian subcontinent from Piranshahr. After earning his degree from Aligarh Muslim University, Syed Musharraf joined the civil service, which was a very respectable profession under British rule. He came from a long line of government officials as he knew that his great grandfather was a tax collector.

Parvez’s mother was born in the early 1920s and grew up in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He completed his studies in the same school of Lucknow. And after some time he completed his graduation from Indraprastha College of Delhi University. taking an English literature bachelor’s programme. After that, she got married and focused on starting a family. Syed, his father, was an accountant for the British Indian government’s foreign office before rising to the position of accounting director. Musharraf was the second boy out of three kids. Javed Musharraf, his older brother, is a director of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and an economist with a base in Rome. Naved Musharraf, his younger brother, is an anesthesiologist with a practise in Illinois, USA.

When Pakistan was established as the homeland for Muslims living in India, Musharraf was only four years old. A few days before independence, in August 1947, his family travelled to Pakistan. His father started working for the Pakistani government when he entered the Pakistan Civil Services. Later, he joined the Foreign Ministry and accepted a position in Turkey.

Personal lifestyle and Death

Javed and Naved were Musharraf’s two brothers, and he was their second child. High-ranking employee of Pakistan’s civil service Javed retired. Since completing his residency studies at Loyola University Medical Center in 1979, anesthesiologist Naved has called Chicago home. On December 28, 1968, Sehba, a native of Karachi, became Musharraf’s wife. He has a son (Bilal) and a daughter(Ayla), both of whom are architects.

Musharraf passed away on February 5th, 2023 from amyloidosis. Musharraf was hospitalised with the illness a year earlier. On February 6, his body is scheduled to be delivered from Dubai to Pakistan.

Career

Musharraf enrolled in the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul in 1961 when he was 18 years old. Musharraf shared a room with PQ Mehdi of the Pakistan Air Force and Abdul Aziz Mirza of the Navy during his college years at PMA and initial joint military testings. Both attained four-star positions and later served under Musharraf. After the entrance exams and interviews, the three cadets went to see the critically acclaimed Urdu film Savera (lit. Dawn) with his inter-services and college friends. Musharraf mentions the 2006 publication  In the Line of Fire.

In addition to passing the standardise, physical, psychological, and officer-training exams with his companions, Musharraf also participated in conversations about socioeconomic issues. All three were interrogated by joint military commanders who were designated as Commandants. The following day, Musharraf reported to PMA together with PQ Mehdi and Mirza, and they were chosen to receive their separate training in their commissioning arms.Last but not least, Musharraf earned a bachelor’s degree in 1964 alongside Ali Kuli Khan and his lifelong companion Abdul Aziz Mirza in his class of the 29th PMA Long Course.

He was assigned to a position close to the Indo-Pakistan border and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the artillery unit. When Mirza joined the Navy Special Service Group and was assigned to East-Pakistan as a military advisor to Eastern Corps, Musharraf kept in touch with him through letters and phone calls during this period in the artillery regiment to continue their close connection. He served in an artillery regiment during the Second Kashmir War’s fierce battle for the Khemkaran region, which was his first time on the battlefield. During the fight, he also took part in the Lahore and Sialkot war zones. Musharraf had a reputation for remaining in place under shellfire during the conflict.

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