General Pervez Musharraf

1
General Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf was born on 11 August 1943. He
is a retired four-star general who served as the
13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of
Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and
led an administrative military government from
October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled Pakistan
as Chief Executive from 1999 to 2001 and as
President from 2001 to 2008. Facing impeachment,
he preferred to resign on 18 August 2008.
2
Family and Childhood
In India
He was born on 11 August 1943 in Delhi, British
India, four years before the partition of India.
He is the son of Syed and Zarin Musharraf. Syed
graduated from Aligarh Muslim University and was
a civil servant for the British. Zarin was born
in the early 1920s.Musharraf's first childhood
home was called neharwali haveli, literally
"mansion by the canal". The house, located at the
epicenter of India's ruling Mughal elite, is so
large that in 2001 it housed eight different
families. Syed Ahmed Khan's family lived adjacent
to the home. The home's title deeds were written
entirely in Urdu except for his father's English
signature.
3
In Pakistan
Musharraf and his family left for Pakistan on one
of the last safe trains in August 1947, a few
days before the partition of India took effect.
His father began to work for the new Pakistani
government and eventually joined the Foreign
Ministry. In his autobiography Line of Fire,
Musharraf elaborates on his first experience with
death, after falling out of 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 often
played sports in his youth. He left Turkey in
1956. He returned to Pakistan in 1957. He
attended Saint Patrick's School in Karachi and
Forman Christian College in Lahore.
4
Military Career
In 1961, at age of 18, Musharraf entered the
prestigious Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul.
He joined the Pakistan Army in 1964 and was
placed in an artillery regiment. During his
college years in PMA and initial joint military
testings, Musharraf shared a room with PQ Mehdi
of PAF and Abdul Aziz Mirza of Navy and after
giving the exams and entranace interviews, all
three cadets went to watch a world-acclaimed Urdu
film, Savera, with his inter-services and college
friends, Musharraf recalls, "In the Line of Fire"
published in 2006. With his friends, Musharraf
passed the standardize, physical, psychological,
and officer-training exams, he also took
discussions involving the socioeconomics issues
all three were interviewed by joint military
officers who were designated as Commandants. The
next day, Musharraf along with PQ Mehdi and Mirza
reported to PMA and were selected for their
respected training in their arms of commission.
5
Finally in 1964, Musharraf graduated with a 29th
PMA Long Course together with Ali Kuli Khan and
his life-long friend Abdul Aziz Mirza (later
four-star admiral). During this time, Musharraf
maintained his 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 as
a military advisor to East Pakistan Army.
6
Various Military Posts
Musharraf was a lieutenant colonel in 1974 and
a colonel in 1978. As staff officer in the 1980s,
he studied and taught at Command and Staff
College and National Defense University. One of
his professor at NDU was general Jehangir
Karamat who served Musharraf's guidance counselor
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 197989 Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan. In 1987, he became a
brigade commander of a new division 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, an assault was launched under the
command of Musharraf at Bilafond La before being
pushed back.
7
The
End