Connect with us

pakistan

Former COAS, president Pervez Musharraf laid to rest with military honours

Published

on

Former COAS, president Pervez Musharraf laid to rest with military honours

The funeral prayers of former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf were offered at Polo Ground in Malir Cantonment, Karachi, on Tuesday. 

He was later laid to rest in a military graveyard in the port city where his father was also buried. Strict security measures were taken for the last rites of the former president. 

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Sahir Shamshad, former army chiefs retired Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, retired Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kiani, politicians including MQM-P’s Farooq Sattar and Mustafa Kamal were among those who attended the funeral prayers of the former military ruler.

A special plane carrying the body of Musharraf – who breathed his last on Sunday in Dubai – touched down at the Karachi airport on Monday night. Musharraf’s wife Sehba Musharraf, son and daughter accompanied the coffin. 

The former general had been admitted to the American Hospital, Dubai as he was suffering from a rare disease amyloidosis. He was hospitalised for three weeks in June last year. “Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning. Pray for ease in his daily living,” his family said at the time in a statement via Musharraf’s official Twitter account. 

Advertisement

On Sunday, Musharraf’s family filed an application in the Pakistani consulate in Dubai to shift the former military leader’s body to Pakistan.

— Condolences pour in —

Politicians and others expressed their profound grief over the demise of Gen Musharraf.

PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet uttered positive words about the departed soul, saying Pervez Musharraf himself was a great man but his friends turned to be pygmies. 

Reacting to the news, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) Gen Sahir Shamshad and tri-services chiefs expressed heartfelt condolences on the former army chief’s demise.

Advertisement

“CJCSC and services chiefs express heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of Gen Pervez Musharraf, former president, CJCSC and chief of army staff. May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family,” the military’s media wing said.

PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and Chaudhry Moonis Elahi also expressed their deep sense of shock over the demise, saying the services of Gen Musharraf for the army and Pakistan would always be remembered.

In a series of tweets, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani expressed deep sorrow over the former president’s death and extended condolences to the family.
“May God grant the deceased a high rank and give patience to the family,” he added.

— Profile —

Pervez Musharraf was born on August 11, 1943 in New Delhi, India. He who took power in a coup in 1999 and also served as president of Pakistan from 2001 to 2008.

Advertisement

Musharraf moved with his family from New Delhi to Karachi in 1947, when Pakistan was carved out as an independent country. The son of a career diplomat, he lived in Turkey during 1949–56. He joined the army in 1964, graduated from the Army Command and Staff College in Quetta, and attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.

The former army chief held a number of appointments in the artillery, the infantry, and commando units and also taught at the Staff College in Quetta and in the War Wing of the National Defence College.

He fought in Pakistan’s 1965 and 1971 wars with India. The Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Gen Musharraf head of the armed forces in October 1998.

On October 12, 1999, while Musharraf was out of the country, Sharif dismissed him and tried to prevent the plane carrying Musharraf home from landing at the Karachi airport. The armed forces, however, took control of the airport and other government installations and deposed Sharif, paving the way for Musharraf to become head of a military government.

Although he was generally considered to hold moderate views and promised an eventual return to civilian rule, Musharraf suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament. He formed the National Security Council, made up of civilian and military appointees, to run Pakistan in the interim.

Advertisement

In early 2001 he assumed the presidency and later attempted to negotiate an agreement with India over the Kashmir region. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001 in the United States and the subsequent US invasion of Afghanistan later that year, the US government cultivated close ties with Musharraf in an attempt to root out Islamic extremists in the Afghan-Pakistan border region.

Following a movement led by the political parties, Musharraf resigned as the president on August 18, 2008.

On March 30, 2014, Musharraf was indicted for suspending the Constitution on November 3, 2007. On December 17, 2019, a special court handed Musharraf death sentence in the high treason case against him.

The former military ruler left the country in March 2016 for Dubai to seek medical treatment and didn’t return to Pakistan since.

Advertisement

pakistan

President Alvi confers awards on high achievers on momentous day

President Alvi confers awards on high achievers on momentous day

Published

on

By

President Alvi confers awards on high achievers on momentous day

President Dr Arif Alvi on Thursday conferred civil honours upon various personalities, including foreign nationals, for their contributions in different fields at an investiture ceremony at Aiwan-i-Sadr on Pakistan Day. 

Prominent among those who were conferred with the civil awards are senior journalist Mujeebur Rehman Shami, social worker Ramzan Cheepa, renowned scholar Dr Anees Ahmed, Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori and Inspector General of Islamabad Police Dr Akbar Nasir Khan.

The late poet Amjad Islam Amjad, Saghir Siddique, Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum, Justice retired Rana Bhagwan Das, actor Qavi Khan and others were among those honoured posthumously at the investiture ceremony.

Squash legends Jahangir Khan and Jan Sher Khan, Sartaj Aziz, Mir Hasil Bizenjo and Ahmed Ghulam Ali Chagla have also been conferred with awards.

Advertisement

The president also bestowed Tamgha-e-Shujaat on martyred Amir Nawaz Khan, martyred Muhammad Kamran, retired Col Muhammad Arif, Muhammad Usman Shehbaz, Dr Kamran Ahmed, Sher Ahmed, Tanveer Hussain, Amjad Ahmed, Mazhar Nawaz Sheikh, Frontier Constabulary’s Zeeshan Ahmed, Naveed Ahmed, Ziaur Rehman and martyred Javedullah while Muhammad Bilal Raja, Mubashir Saleem, Minhas Ahmed Khan and Ijaz Hafeez were also honoured at the ceremony.

Similar ceremonies were also held at the Governor Houses in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Punjab Governor Baligur Rehman conferred Sitara-e-Imtiaz on Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and others.

Continue Reading

pakistan

Miftah blames Dar for sabotaging IMF deal

Published

on

By

Blaming Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for sabotaging the deal, PML-N leader Miftah Ismail claimed that International Monetary Fund (IMF) was not interested in releasing money to Pakistan as the Washington-based lender had no trust in Islamabad government.

Speaking during a session titled ‘Pakistan in the Midst of Crisis’ organised by a private university in Karachi, former finance minister said when he was heading the Ministry of Finance he spoke to the IMF officials and assured them that Paki¬stan would not make false statements or violate the agreement; however, when Ishar Dar was sworn in ‘he sabotaged the agreement’.

He recalled that Pakistan had three times made sovereign commitments and then backtracked on them. “Now the IMF is not interested in giving money to Pakistan,” he said, emphasising that the Fund doesn’t trust the government in Islamabad.

Pakistan continues to woo the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to secure the much-needed bailout from the global lender. Pakistan is now the only South Asian country that’s yet to secure a bailout from the multilateral lender as Sri Lanka clinched financing this week and Bangladesh pushes on with carrying out IMF-mandated reforms.

Advertisement

Pakistan has taken tough measures including increasing taxes and energy prices, and allowing its currency to weaken to restart a $6.5 billion IMF loan package. The funds will offer some relief to a nation still reeling from a dollar shortage that has raised the probability of the economy slipping into a recession ahead of elections this year.

Regarding the petrol relief subsidy announced by the government on Sunday, Miftah said that he believed this formula would not be effective. “We provide subsidies on petrol by taking loans,” he said.

Miftah warned that if Pakistan defaulted it would have grave consequences for the country as people belonging to the rich segment will bear the brunt but the poor people won’t be able to make ends meet.  

Advertisement
Continue Reading

pakistan

Pakistan Day: PM Shehbaz sees economic instability, political chaos as major challenges

Published

on

By

Pakistan Day: PM Shehbaz sees economic instability, political chaos as major challenges

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Thursday the nation should not lose sight of the challenges staring it in the face.  

“The challenges are topped by a combination of economic instability and the inability to settle the rules of the game. An environment of political chaos explains why we have failed to develop our economy on a sustainable basis,” the prime minister said in a statement issued on the eve of the Pakistan Day. “This day is also the day to renew our pledge,” he stressed.

The premier said Pakistan came into being as a result of political and constitutional struggle and its future lies in adhering to the constitution in its letter and spirit.

“I have no doubt that Pakistan is destined to achieve great heights. However, for this to become a reality, we have to forge unity in our ranks, equip ourselves with national purpose and vow to wage a struggle in line with the legacy of our forefathers,” the prime minister said in a message on Pakistan Day being observed on Thursday.

Advertisement

The prime minister said the 23rd of March was an epoch-making day in their national history that reminded them of their past, invited them to ponder over the present state of affairs, and inspired them to build a prosperous future.

The prime minister said it took them back to 1940 when Muslims of the sub-continent approved a resolution for the establishment of a separate homeland they could call their own under the dynamic leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Allama Muhammad Iqbal’s dream of freedom manifested itself in the form of a resolution representing Muslims’ demands, and aspirations for a separate homeland, he added.

The prime minister said the consequential seven years witnessed history in the making as the Quaid-i-Azam led a relentless struggle to translate the dream of Iqbal into reality. The establishment of Pakistan was certainly a miracle of the 20th century.

“The last seventy-five years of our journey have seen us fight many crises from wars to natural disasters. There have been many occasions when we overcame the odds and achieved many milestones,” he added.

Advertisement

“Let us use this day to introspect and hold ourselves to account. Only those nations that are capable of analyzing their past, learning from their mistakes, and making amends can achieve true glory,” he added.

As a member of the international community, the prime minister said Pakistan had played the role of a responsible nation in the resolution of problems facing humanity and the establishment of global peace.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © GLOBAL TIMES PAKISTAN