Musharraf, Pervez
(b. 1943), president of Pakistan. Pervez Musharraf was born in Delhi on 11 August 1943. Following the founding of Pakistan in 1947, his family moved to Karachi. His father was a career diplomat and his mother, a homemaker, also worked for the International Labour Organization. He was educated at Christian schools in Pakistan and Turkey, where he lived from 1949 to 1956 when his father was stationed there. Following graduation from the Pakistani Military Academy in 1961, he pursued a career in the army, serving as a commando and in various staff and instructional positions. In 1998 he was promoted to the rank of general and appointed chief of army staff. The following year he was appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.
In October 1999, following a disagreement with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (b. 1949) over Sharif's policies, Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup and on 12 October had himself appointed chief executive of Pakistan. On 20 June 2001 he appointed himself president of Pakistan. He continued to hold his previous posts of chief of army staff and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Although his taking of power disrupted the movement toward democracy in Pakistan, Musharraf promised a return to civilian rule in October 2002. He is viewed by other world leaders as a moderate, and following the 11 September terrorist attack on the United States become a strong ally of the United States. Despite criticism in Pakistan, he assisted the United States in the invasion of neighboring Afghanistan and cracked down on Muslim terrorists in Pakistan.
Further Reading
Chadda, Maya. (2000) Building Democracy in South Asia: India, Nepal, Pakistan. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
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