The former President of Pakistan and army chief, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has died after a prolonged illness at a Dubai hospital, UAE. According to media reports, arrangements have been made to bring his body to the country for burial. However, there was no official communication if his body would be brought back to Pakistan. Musharraf had been living in self-imposed exile for the last eight years.

He had expressed his desire to spend his rest of life in his home country and wanted to return to Pakistan as soon as possible. But he was not allowed to come back to the country for whatever reasons.

His death seems to have been widely mourned in the country. That Musharraf has bequeathed a mixed legacy is a fact. However, it is interesting to note that not only has Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) celebrated his death, Indian media, by and large, have also derived satisfaction from the fact that Musharraf, the ‘architect of the Kargil war’, is no longer in this world.

Yasin Wafa (Islamabad)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023