Howrah News Service -  Latest news and headlines on Howrah,West Bengal and World: Nothing to celebrate this Oct. 12 for Musharraf

Nothing to celebrate this Oct. 12 for Musharraf
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ASIANAGE on 12 October, 2008 03:39:33
 
By OUR PAKISTAN CORRESPONDENT
Islamabad
Oct. 12: Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf celebrated every October 12
in the last eight years to see his power growing, but this time he would stay
back in the Army House - virtually detained - to see his political foes at the
helm of affairs.
The former Army Chief and US ally saw his popularity slide over the past 18
months and had been isolated since his allies lost in the February election. Mr
Musharraf would have completed exactly nine years on October 12 had he not been
forced out of power.
Mr Musharraf resigned on August 18 after running the country for almost nine
years becoming the third longest serving military ruler. Field Marshal Ayub Khan
and General Ziaul Haq were the other two military dictators who ruled the
country for over 20 years. General Yahya Khan ruled when Pakistan got
disintegrated into two sovereign nations, the other now being Bangladesh.
The beleaguered former President resigned from his office after reading the
writing on the wall. The ruling coalition could easily have impeached him had he
not quit "gracefully". Mr Musharraf toppled the elected government of Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif on October 12, 1999 following a disagreement with Mr
Sharif over policies and appointed himself as chief executive of Pakistan.
The same day (October 12, 1999), Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attempted to
dismiss Mr Musharraf and install then Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief
Khawaja Ziauddin in his place.
Mr Musharraf, who was out of the country, boarded a commercial airliner to
return to Pakistan. Senior Army generals refused to accept Mr Musharraf's
dismissal.
Mr Sharif ordered the Karachi airport to prevent the landing of the airliner,
which then circled the skies over Karachi. In the coup, the Generals ousted Mr
Sharif's administration and took over the airport.
The plane landed with only a few minutes of fuel to spare, and Mr Musharraf
assumed control of the government. Mr Sharif was put under house arrest and
later exiled.
Then President of Pakistan, Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, remained in office until June
2001 before being asked to resign. Mr Musharraf formally made himself President
on June 20, 2001, just days before his scheduled visit to Agra for talks with
India.
He continued to hold his previous post of Chief of Army Staff.
The coalition government, led by the PPP announced on August 8, 2008 that it
will impeach Mr Musharraf. Under pressure Mr Musharraf's resignation came hours
before the coalition was expected to move the impeachment motion in the National
Assembly.
The powerful army, which has ruled for more than half the country's 61-year
history, publicly kept out of the controversy over its old boss. Like the
central character in a Shakespearean tragedy, Mr Musharraf met the filial
ingratitude both at the hands of the party he nurtured - the Pakistan Muslim
League (Quaid-e-Azam) - and his friends, who silently began to abandon him as
soon as he handed over the command of Pakistan Army to General Ashfaq Pervez
Kayani late in 2007.