Pervez Musharraf, who passed away in Dubai on Sunday, epitomises the contradictions and confusion of Pakistan. He marked a turn-of-the-century return to the gloves coming off and Rawalpindi finding no need to use Islamabad as a front or cat’s paw. Musharraf came to power in 1999 the way generals in creaky, nominal democracies usually come – through a coup, after overthrowing the current PM Shehbaz Sharif‘s brother Nawaz Sharif. As head of the Pakistani armed forces, Musharraf had led Pakistan‘s infiltration into Kargil during the very same Nawaz Sharif government. After changing his title from ‘chief executive’ to ‘president’ in 2001, he oversaw further erosion of Pakistan’s already eroded democratic institutions.
It was under his presidency that the ill-fated Agra Summit was held in July 2001, which, among other issues, aimed to resolve the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. Instead, India was witness to the contradictory nature of Pakistan’s latest general in a suit. 9/11 gave Musharraf a shot in the arm, with George W Bush leaning heavily on his ‘ally’ in the US ‘war on terrorism’. Running with the hare and hunting with the hounds, however, ultimately ran Musharraf aground. He became the first Pakistani general to be sentenced to death for treason in 2019. By that time, he had relocated first to Britain, then to Dubai.
