Pervez Musharraf – A Warlord Lost By Democracy

Pervez Musharraf, mastermind of the Kargil war and former president of Pakistan, passed away on Sunday. Musharraf’s career as army chief and president remained controversial.

In his autobiography – ‘In the Line of Fire’, he has given information about how we have escaped the clutches of death many times in the past. On August 17, 1988, he was going to Rawalpindi from Bahawalpur along with dictator Zia-ul-Haq. The plane crashed suddenly. Among them was the then US ambassador to Pakistan, Arnold Louis Raphael. Zia, Raphael and many others died in it. Musharraf was appointed as Zia’s military secretary. But at the last moment another Brigadier was appointed in his place. Then he went into the plane and died. There was a lot of discussion about this plane crash. However, the cause remained unclear. Musharraf, who came to power by killing democracy, had to go because of the people’s movement and the victory of the Pakistan People’s Party. After that, no army chief tried to seize power. Even further, the chances are slim. During the Musharraf era and for some time after, America needed Pakistan for Afghanistan. Today she is no more. Therefore, there is no possibility of much help from America.

During the important period from 1999 to 2008, Musharraf was the leader of the country. In the year 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center by the Taliban, the entire picture of Afghanistan and Pakistan changed. During this period, he was the head of Pakistan, which had geopolitical importance. When America attacked Afghanistan, Taliban chief Mullah Omar, Al Qaeda’s Osama bin Laden, Haqqani network’s Jalaluddin and Sirajuddin Haqqani and other terrorists took refuge in Pakistan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan have been in turmoil due to land-based militancy. Militants against America began to gain sympathy. In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the 2002 elections defe

Pervez Musharraf – A Warlord Lost By Democracy

ated the left-wing National Party and led to a government of various religion-political parties called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). MMA gained sympathy due to the events in Afghanistan. The army also helped them. Today ‘Tehrik-e-Taliban’ has shocked Pakistan. On January 30, more than a hundred people were killed in a TTP blast at a mosque in Peshawar. Attacks occur daily in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. This TTP started during the Musharraf era. TTP was established in December 2007. But it started in the year 2004 in the military operation in Waziristan, which is adjacent to Afghanistan.

During the Musharraf era in 2004, Mullah Dadullah started the suicide bombings. Youth in Waziristan trained to become suicide bombers. Later suicide attacks increased in Pakistan. Today, Pakistan has to plead with Taliban Afghanistan to stop the TTP. Musharraf came to power after ousting Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999. Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken a bus to Lahore with a message of peace. Issues like peace, trade etc. were discussed between Sharif and Vajpayee. The same ‘Lahore Manifesto’. The then army chief Musharraf did not like this. He built Kargil. Pakistan suffered a huge loss in it. US President Bill Clinton had to request mediation.

All this was done by Musharraf without discussing with Prime Minister Sharif. Nawaz took action against Musharraf and forced his ouster. Musharraf sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary. There was an outcry against that decision. It started the movement for ‘Independent Judiciary’. Even those who welcomed Musharraf went against it and stood by Chaudhary.Musharraf, who staged Kargil against the Vajpayee-Sharif peace process, came to Agra in 2001 to hold peace talks with India. There was an atmosphere that some concrete decisions would be made in that meeting. In reality, the meeting was fruitless as differences continued over Kashmir. Later in early 2004, the meeting between Vajpayee and Musharraf in Islamabad on the occasion of the SAARC Summit became historic. It was decided to initiate dialogue and give importance to issues like Siachen, Sarcreek, trade etc. Musharraf also agreed that Pakistan’s land will not be allowed to be used by extremist organizations. But it didn’t happen.

In the year 2006, serial bomb blasts were carried out in local trains of Mumbai. Later Dr. During the tenure of Manmohan Singh, various issues were discussed. Musharraf was saying that Siachen, which is the highest battlefield in the world, should be de-armed. However, Dr. Singh did not accept it. Musharraf came home to participate in the 2013 elections. Barely a thousand citizens gathered to welcome him at the Karachi airport. It made the future of his party clear. All of Musharraf’s candidates were defeated in that election. One thing is clear from this, that the people of Pakistan do not want army chiefs in power. They want democracy.

If we look at the subsequent history, the army chief did not seize power. Musharraf became the last army chief in the journey of Pakistan at least till now! Pervez Musharraf, possessed by hatred of India, repeatedly thwarted all peace efforts. Kargil war was imposed on India. Finally, the last Pakistani army chief has died in exile and a death sentence on his head.