In a luxuriously decorated living room, a man dressed in a white Muslim robe and trousers sits on a single sofa with a peaceful expression. A dozen of his supporters, sitting or standing, clustered around him.
This is a photo posted on Twitter by former Pakistani President Musharraf in March 2013. At that time, he had just finished his five-year exile life and returned to Pakistan, where he would face charges of "treason".
So, what is the reason that the former leader of a country has been reduced to a "prisoner". What has happened to the president who has made "a great contribution" to the friendship between China and Pakistan?
On August 1, 1943, Pervez Musharraf was born in New Delhi, India. At that time, India and Pakistan were not "separated" and belonged to the British colonies.
After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, he moved with his family to Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, and continued his life here.
In 1961, Musharraf entered a famous military academy in Brazil's Northern Frontier Province, and since then embarked on the road of "professional soldier".
After entering the army, Musharraf was promoted very quickly due to his outstanding combat performance and clear mind. He was quickly promoted from a grassroots officer like platoon commander to a "senior officer" at the brigade commander level, and his rank was also promoted to general in 1998.
A year later, he was appointed by the Prime Minister as Chief of Staff of the Army and Chairman of the Joint Council of Staff (in the same year he became the Chief Executive Officer of the National Security Council). On June 20, 2001, Musharraf became President of Pakistan and continued to hold important positions in the military.
As the fourth "military president" in Pakistan's history, Musharraf's "achievements" during his administration are not only well-known in China, but also widely recognized in the Western world. He himself appeared in the American "Time" magazine in 2002 and became one of the "Six Outstanding People in the World" that year.
After Musharraf came to power, the first step was to "rectify the management of officials."Eliminating corrupt elements, purifying the team, and improving the image of the government are Musharraf's first goals.
He first established the "National Inventory Bureau" to carry out anti-corruption and anti-corruption campaigns from top to bottom across the country, targeting everyone and all classes including the Pakistani army.
The anti-corruption campaign first started in Punjab Province. After two years, government departments at all levels in the province have laid off 300,000 employees, especially those who have been working in government departments for more than 25 years. Now they only know a cup of tea and a cigarette. , The old guys who have read a newspaper for a long time are basically "persuaded to leave."
Because in Musharraf's view, they hold a high salary, but they occupy the pit and do not shit. This is indeed a moth of the government.
On the international stage, Musharraf also performed well. The September 11 incident in 2001 made Musharraf feel that Pakistan is at the corner of the times. Is it to follow in the footsteps of the United States and hold high the banner of "anti-terrorism", or to maintain the status quo? The final choice will affect the future change of Pakistan's national destiny.
After a fierce ideological struggle, Musharraf proceeded from the national interest and determined the "course" of this big ship in Pakistan-he ignored the opposition of domestic religious forces and made two major decisions: First, go all out. Cooperating with the United States’ counter-terrorism; the second is to abandon the Taliban that has become a target of public criticism. At this time, he also began to clearly support the Musharraf regime.
It seems that Musharraf's desire to draw in the United States to support the balance of India has really come true.
Since the United States has taken the lead in expressing its position, other Western countries have also helped Pakistan’s economy. As a result, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have surpassed any period in the country’s history in a short period of time.
In addition, Pakistan's huge external debt pressure has also been significantly eased. Therefore, we have to admit that Musharraf’s decision has taken Pakistan out of the turmoil in terms of security and economy.
Musharraf’s attitude towards China is also very in line with his country’s national interests. Before he became the president of Pakistan, he valued the friendship between the two countries very much.
Therefore, as soon as he took office, he made maintaining and developing comprehensive cooperation between China and Pakistan one of the first tasks of the new government.
Since taking office, Musharraf will visit China whenever he has the opportunity, and has held cordial and friendly meetings and talks with Chinese leaders on many occasions, making new contributions to the comprehensive development of the traditional friendly cooperative relations between China and Pakistan .
When he was the chief executive officer of Pakistan for only two months, he was invited to visit China.
In May 2001, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, Premier Zhu Rongji was invited to visit Pakistan. Musharraf personally led a number of cabinet members to greet him at the airport.
During the visit, both sides signed 6 economic cooperation agreements including economic technology, tourism, etc.
In November 2002, when the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China convened and realized the important historical moment of the change of the Chinese leadership between the old and the new, President Musharraf called several times to warmly congratulate and congratulate the success of the conference. The election of the new leader of the Communist Party of China.
In November 2003, Musharraf visited China again and had cordial talks with then President Hu Jintao.
Musharraf once firmly stated: "In the new century, Pakistan and China will continue to strengthen this traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation...I firmly believe that through our efforts, the torch of Sino-Pakistani friendship It must be passed on from generation to generation."
But who could have imagined that such a resolute, upright, "good neighbor" and peace-keeping president would be labeled as "treason" in the near future.
Actually,Since Musharraf assumed the presidency, the voice of opposition around him has been endless. Due to Pakistan’s constitution, the president of the country and the head of the army cannot be the same person, and Musharraf also served as the army chief of staff during his presidency, which undoubtedly gave the opposition to attack him.
In order to quell the anger of the opposition and maintain domestic political stability, Musharraf announced in a television speech in 2003 that he would resign from the post of Chief of Staff of the Army at the end of 2004 and only serve as the president of the country.
But then Musharraf discovered that many of his reforms could not be implemented if he did not control the factual power of the military, so he had to announce again that he would continue to serve as the Army Chief of Staff. I hope everyone can understand.
But we all know that political struggles are always life and death, and "adversaries" will not have any pity for you.
Therefore, when Musharraf’s political opponents learned of the news, they filed a lawsuit against Musharraf in 2007. Although the Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit.
But in order to "seek stability," Musharraf announced his resignation as the Chief of Staff of the Army after he was re-elected as President in 2008.
Musharraf, who has no military leadership, is like a warrior without weapons and armor. He was soon impeached by the opposition for various reasons, so he had to resign in August 2008 and stepped down sadly.
After Musharraf stepped down, he chose to "escape" to Britain. However, Musharraf, who lives overseas, did not give up his “counter-offensive”. He formed the “All Pakistan Muslim League” and hoped that one day he could return to Pakistan to participate in the presidential election again.
However, to his surprise, the opposition party's liquidation is far from over. In 2011, the Pakistan Anti-Terrorism Court issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf on the grounds that Musharraf had participated in the assassination of former Prime Minister Bebuto.
But because Mushala 's family is also in the UK, this "arrest warrant" did not pose a substantial threat to him and his family.
In order to deceive Musharraf back to Pakistan,The opposition had a plan again. They announced to the public that the arrest warrant for Musharraf was revoked and he was allowed to return to the motherland in a "free body".
Musharraf, who learned that he had regained his "innocence", was overjoyed. In March 2013, the 69-year-old Musharraf returned to Pakistan with confidence, ready to start the second spring of his political career.
This is also the beginning of the scene: Musharraf and his supporters meeting in the villa.
On April 18, Musharraf, who had just returned to China, went to the court to apply for an extension of bail. As a result, in the court, the judge suddenly announced the arrest of Musharraf and charged him: suspected of declaring a state of emergency as president in 2007; dismissing 60 judges from their posts and imposing illegal detention on some judges.
Then they put Musharraf under house arrest. And he will usher in his "trial" on June 1st of the same year.
From 2013 to 2019, Musharraf was convicted of "treason" by the court many times, but during this period, because Musharraf has been treating illness, the "death penalty" has not been executed.
At the beginning of 2020, the Pakistani court revoked the death sentence against Musharraf. But in September of the same year, Musharraf chose to "flee his country" to find a new "sanctuary" .
References:
"Musharraf's Pakistan: Walking on a Wire Rope" Wang Shuming
"Strong Man in the Army, Ruler of the Country-Pakistani President Musharraf" Yang Jing
The Fate of Musharraf" Zhang Junrong
"From General to President" Li Shizhen
.
