Tag: Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf

  • ‘Military leadership’s stance is that Pervez Musharraf should return’: DG ISPR

    ‘Military leadership’s stance is that Pervez Musharraf should return’: DG ISPR

    Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar said on Tuesday that the military’s leadership believes that former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Pervez Musharraf should return to Pakistan.

    “In such a situation, the institution and leadership’s stance is that Pervez Musharraf should return,” said DG ISPR in Dunya News programme, ‘On The Front with Kamran Shahid’.

    “Musharraf Saab is seriously ill. We have contacted his family. Once his family responds and the doctors allow him to travel, we can make the required arrangements.”

    Nawaz Sharif urges govt to facilitate Musharraf’s return

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif urged the government to facilitate Musharraf’s return to the country.

    “I have no personal enmity or animosity towards Pervez Musharraf. I don’t want anyone else to suffer the traumas I have had to endure for my loved ones. I pray to Almighty Allah for his health. If he wants to return to Pakistan, the government should facilitate him,” said Nawaz in a tweet.

    Intelligence agencies clarified in NSC meeting that there was no conspiracy against Khan: DG ISPR

    The military’s spokesperson expressed regret over the propaganda initiated against the army and the military leadership on social media. 

    DG ISPR once again reiterated that no conspiracy was hatched to oust former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan. He said that the military leadership was present in the National Security Council (NSC) meeting and the participants were clearly briefed by the intelligence agencies.

    “[They were] briefed that there was no conspiracy or evidence of any kind [against the then government], nothing like that happened. Participants were told in detail that there was no evidence of any conspiracy,” said the DG ISPR.

  • Vawda claims Musadik Malik, a PhD, served as ‘doctor to royal family’ in Dubai

    In another spat on live TV, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Faisal Vawda accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Dr Musadik Malik (a PhD) of being a “doctor to a royal family in Dubai” before he supposedly joined hands with military dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf.

    This took Malik by surprise, who retorted he has a PhD in Healthcare Administration and Policy that has nothing to do with an MBBS degree. “How can you say I was a doctor to a royal family when I don’t have the required qualification,” he questioned Vawda, who appeared alongside him on a Dunya News show.

    But this did not stop Vawda from speaking further.

    The PTI lawmaker then accused Malik of serving as a caretaker minister during Musharraf era. “I didn’t ask why you were made a caretaker minister by Musharraf,” Vawda said, adding that this helped Musadiq Malik “manipulate pharmaceutical sector for personal gains”.

    Vawda reiterated that the PML-N leader was introduced as a doctor to the royal family during Musharraf’s time. “Which royal family,” asked Malik.

    “You were a doctor to the royal family in Dubai,” Vawda said. Dr Malik responded: “I’ve never even lived in Dubai.”

    The PML-N leader asked Vawda does he live in the same world as the rest of us. “Where are you getting your information from,” Malik hit back at Vawda, saying his “lies cannot go on”.

    At this, Vawda said: “I don’t know, I haven’t joined politics to study your personal history.”

    It may be noted here that Musadiq Malik didn’t serve as a caretaker minister during Musharraf era.

    According to a Dawn article, “Dr Malik first appeared on the national scene when he joined Gen Musharraf’s signature programme, the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD)” as a “volunteer”.

    He was later appointed as a caretaker minister in 2013 by then president Asif Ali Zardari.

  • ‘Imran’s Naya Pakistan is Gen (r) Musharraf’s Pakistan’

    ‘Imran’s Naya Pakistan is Gen (r) Musharraf’s Pakistan’

    Former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari has said that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is following the footsteps of former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has ruined national consensus.

    Speaking to PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira on the coronavirus crisis and the evolving political situation in the country, Zardari criticised the government, saying that it wants to curtail constitutional and financial powers of provinces.

    “This government is fighting the opposition instead of fighting coronavirus,” he said.

    Referring to PPP’s past tenure, the former president stated that when he came to power in 2008, the country was a victim of terrorism and division. “We conducted the Swat operation through national consensus and brought peace [throughout the country],” the former president asserted.

    The PPP and the PTI have been trading barbs over the past few weeks. On Tuesday, after being criticised for the second consecutive day by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in the Parliament House, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had demanded that the foreign minister either withdraw his statement against PPP or resign from his position.

    The minister had spoken at length about PPP’s style of governance and the participation of the province in national decision-making, saying that the former ruling party was focused on only provincial politics rather than thinking of the entire country.

  • As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    As Dar’s residence is converted into Panahgah, Musharraf’s farmhouse remains untouched

    The conversion of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s Lahore residence into a Panahgah [shelter home] by the Punjab government is reminiscent of the military rule of Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, who had turned Sharif family’s Model Town residence into Gosha’aye Aafiat — an institution for elderly destitute people — nearly two decades back; while the former dictator’s own farmhouse remains untouched under the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

    While this was also pointed out by senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir, it was reported by The News that such an act was last carried out by a military dictator out of vengeance against the Sharifs, who had then departed for Saudi Arabia to live in exile for seven years.

    The present dispensation is a civilian arrangement that has taken the instant decision. While a quick action has been taken against Dar’s property, Musharraf’s Chak Shahzad farmhouse attached by two courts separately has not been touched by authorities to convert it into a shelter home for the poor although he has been sentenced to death and declared a fugitive.

    In November 2016, an Islamabad district and sessions judge attached Musharraf’s farmhouse as the special court trying the dictator for high treason declared him an absconder. The special tribunal ordered the confiscation of his movable and immovable properties.

    According to the details submitted to the special court by the Interior Ministry, he operated nine bank accounts and owned seven immovable properties, including the farmhouse, land in the Army Housing Scheme in Karachi, Khayaban-e-Faisal, Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Karachi, Beach Street, DHA Islamabad and DHA Lahore.

    Musharraf’s wife claims ownership of the farmhouse just like Dar’s spouse does about the Gulber residence, but the latter’s plea has not been accepted.

    In January 2017, the Islamabad district administration had informed a district and sessions court that Musharraf’s properties have been attached in compliance with court orders after he had been declared as a proclaimed offender and absconder in the murder case of Lal Masjid cleric Abdur Rashid Ghazi, the report said.

  • Musharraf’s hand-written note for son is endearing

    Musharraf’s hand-written note for son is endearing

    Son of former president and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retired) Pervez Musharraf, Bilal Musharraf shared an emotional letter that his father had sent him back in 1994.

    The letter, dated July 18, 1994, was penned when the former president was posted as Director General Military Operations in the Pakistan Army and contained career advice for Bilal.

    “Be honest, straightforward and upright in all your dealings; fair and just in your decisions,” read the letter. “Be bold and just in decision making – not impulsive and definitely not over-calculating. You have to strike the correct balance.”

    Musharraf further stressed that confidence is the key to life and asked his son to be humble and sympathise with the needy and the helpless.

    Bilal later deleted the letter from Twitter saying that it felt “self-promotional.”

    On December 17, a special court in Pakistan had sentenced Musharraf to death in the long-drawn high treason case against him. The case against the former president related to the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan in 2007.

  • Govt may challenge Musharraf’s death penalty verdict: Babar Awan

    Govt may challenge Musharraf’s death penalty verdict: Babar Awan

    Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and promi­nent lawyer Babar Awan has claimed that the government was examining the option of challenging the conviction of former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf, Dawn reported.

    According to the details, Babar during a press conference said that if it deemed appropriate, the PTI government could file an appeal while the convict could also challenge the decision of the special court.

    He also rejected the argument that the government being the complainant in the high treason case could not file an appeal.

    Awan recalled that former premier Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif had been disqualified on a federal government complaint and the government went in appeal after the change of regime, adding that the treason case against Musharraf had been filed by the former prime minister (PM) with the consultation of his brother, but they both were silent on the conviction.

    The PTI leader cited the case of slain PM Benazir Bhutto who had been convicted while she was abroad, saying that an appeal on her behalf was taken up by the then Chief Justice Irshad Hasan Khan who held that the appeal of a person convicted in absentia could be heard in his/her absence.

    Babar said that the appeal had been taken up and the judgement set aside.

    He also insisted that nobody should think of a clash between institutions as the government of PM Imran had a resolve to run the institutions within their constitutional and legal framework preserving their honour and dignity.

    A special court trying the ex-preisdent last week sentenced him to death for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, adding that it had found him guilty of high treason in accordance with Article 6 of the Constitution of Pakistan.

  • VIDEO: Masked men on unregistered vehicle seek dismissal of judges who sentenced Musharraf

    VIDEO: Masked men on unregistered vehicle seek dismissal of judges who sentenced Musharraf

    At least two masked men on an unregistered vehicle have been spotted in Sialkot, putting up banners seeking dismissal of judges who convicted former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf last week.

    A special court trying the ex-preisdent had last week sentenced him to death for treason. While analysts had hinted at a possible rift among institutions over the death penalty for former army chief Musharraf, the detailed verdict of the case had drawn ire of many after one of the judges proposed public hanging.

    A week later, a video going viral over the internet has shown masked men putting up on Sialkot’s Khawaja Safdar Road some banners demanding dismissal of the judges who sentenced Musharraf.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/BdTamiz/status/1208788091454054401

    “We’ve been told to do so,” they can be heard as saying when asked about the person or organisation behind the banners, and do not specify who were the orders from.

  • Unknown armed men break into residence of Musharraf’s ex-prosecutor, ‘warn him’

    Unknown armed men break into residence of Musharraf’s ex-prosecutor, ‘warn him’

    An armed robbery has been reported at the farmhouse of Akram Sheikh, who previously headed the government’s prosecution team against Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf in the high treason case against the latter, SAMAA reported.

    According to reports, the armed men remained at the lawyer’s residence for around two hours while they held his family hostage, and finally left after looting items worth millions of rupees.

    Sheikh’s farmhouse is located in Islamabad’s Chak Shehzad area, police said and added that the lawyer’s family was locked in a room after their mobile phones were taken away by the intruders. “The house was then combed and looted.”

    While a case has not yet been lodged amid Sheikh’s silence, senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed that the lawyer was also threatened by the armed men.

    Sheikh was appointed as the prosecutor by former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif to fight the Musharraf treason case on behalf of the government. He fought the case till 2018 and resigned after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was elected to power.

    The former army chief and dictator was handed death sentence by a special court earlier this week.

  • Musharraf’s exit: ‘PML-N was powerless after Raheel Sharif’s recommendation’

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Pervaiz Rashid has said that former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf, who was recently sentenced to death in abstentia for treason, “was allowed to go abroad for medical treatment on the recommendation of then army chief Raheel Sharif”, and the government stood “powerless”.

    “We [the PML-N government] didn’t have the power to stop him,” said the former information minister, who was sacked in 2016 following the Dawn Leaks fiasco that revealed the details of a high level civil-military meeting discussing the issue of Pakistan’s banned outfits.

    Speaking to a private media outlet, Rasheed has also claimed that Gen (r) Raheel Sharif wanted an extension in his tenure as the army chief, but the then government of prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif refused it.

    However, a former army general rejected Rasheed’s claims that the PML-N had turned down Gen (r) Raheel’s request for an extension in his tenure. “In fact, the PML-N government had offered to give Gen (r) Raheel a promotion by making him a field marshal,” Lt Gen (r) Amjad Shoaib said while speaking to the TV channel.

    He added that Shehbaz Sharif and then interior minister Chaudhry Nisar wanted to give Gen (r) Raheel an extension in his tenure as the army chief. Shoaib said that Raheel had announced 10 months before his retirement that he would not take extension.

    “Raheel Sharif had an offer from Saudi Arabia,” the former military official said.

    In 2015, Saudi Arabia announced that it would form a new Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition force. Gen (r) Raheel Sharif was appointed the alliance’s chief in January 2017, months after his retirement as the army chief.

  • Humayun Saeed, Shaan, Humaima Malick defend Mahira Khan after troll swears at her

    Humayun Saeed, Shaan, Humaima Malick defend Mahira Khan after troll swears at her

    The decade is drawing to a close and people still think slut-shaming is okay.

    Recently, a Twitter user resorted to name-calling Mahira Khan after she tweeted about the Musharraf verdict.

    https://twitter.com/MomalFayax/status/1207643435248828418?s=20

    Mahira instantly clapped back with a savage response.

    Following this, industry veterans including Humayun Saeed, Shaan and Humaima Malick jumped in to defend Mahira.

    Humayun Saeed, who also included Mehwish Hayat in the coversation, asserted that a nation can’t progress “until we learn to respect our women and treat them with dignity.”

    Mehwish Hayat thanked Humayun for standing up for them.

    Shaan remarked that Mahira has earned her respect through nothing else but sheer hard work.

    Meanwhile, Humaima Malick gave the troll a hard-hitting response.