Pervez Musharraf laid to rest in Karachi; military officers attend funeral

Pakistans former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was on Tuesday laid to rest with full military honours in an army graveyard here in the presence of his relatives and several retired and serving military officersThe 79yearold former presidents funeral prayers were held at the Gulmohar Polo Ground in Malir Cantonment in the afternoon in a low key ceremony which was neither attended by President Arif Alvi nor Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif However Joint Chiefs of Staff General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and former army chiefs Qamar Javed Bajwa Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Aslam Beg attended the funeralFormer ISI chiefs General retd Shuja Pasha and General retd Zaheerul Islam and several serving and retired military officers also attended the funeral prayersPoliticians including Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan leaders Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi Dr Farooq Sattar Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz leader Amir Muqam Pakistan TehreekeInsaaf leader and former Sindh governor Imran Ismail former federal information minister Javed Jabbar were also in attendanceNo top leaders from the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party in the Sindh province or the JamaateIslaami were present at the final ritesMusharrafs coffin was draped in Pakistans green and white flag though the ceremony was not a state funeral The casket of Musharraf was then taken to the army graveyard reserved for top officials on ShahraheFaisal and buried there with full military honours and protocolTahir Husshysshyain who has been Musharshyrafs spokesman in Karachi since the exruler formed his parshyty the APML in October 2010 said a large number of military officials senior bureaucrats and businessmen attended the funeral prayers under military securityMusharraf the architect of the Kargil War in 1999 and Pakistans last military ruler died on Sunday in Dubai after a prolonged illness The former president was undergoing treatment for amyloidosis in Dubai He was living in the UAE since 2016 in selfexile to avoid criminal charges back home Musharrafs mortal remains arrived here on Monday on a special flight from DubaiHis wife Saba son Bilal daughter and other close relatives arrived with the body on the special aircraft of Malta aviation arranged by the UAE authorities The aircraft touched down at the old terminal area of the Jinnah International Airport amid heavy security with the former presidents family and the body was taken to the Malir Cantonment area officials saidAlso read Pakistans Musharraf military dictator who allied with US dies in DubaiHis mother was buried in Dubai while father was laid to rest in KarachiMusharraf enjoyed immense support and popularity among many but also hated and vilified by the bar councils civil rights groups and political parties for his antidemocratic actionsOn Monday sharp differences among political leaders came to the fore in Senate over the offering of prayers for the former military ruler Pakistani Parliament follows a tradition of offering Fateha prayers for the departed soul when a leading politician or personality of the country dies The members of the Senate the upper House of Parliament hurled allegations against one another for supporting dictatorial regimes and violators of the Constitution when the issue of prayers for Musharraf came upThe move of supplication was led by the leader of the opposition in the senate Senator Shehzad Wasim of the Pakistan TehreekeInsaf party and supported by other members of his party When Senator Mushtaq Ahmad of rightwing JamaatiIslami who was about to lead a joint invocation for those killed in the earthquake in Turkey was asked to also pray for Musharrafs soul he refused by saying that he would only lead the invocation for the quake victimsThe refusal led to vociferous exchanges among lawmakers with some members reminding Senator Mushtaq that his party had also once supported MusharrafLater the PTI lawmakers led by Senator Wasim who was given a break in politics by Musharraf offered a customary prayer while the treasury senators refused to join themThe split in the upper House over offering a prayer for a dead person was rare and an apt reflection of Musharrafs chequered legacy Musharraf who seized power after a bloodless military coup in October 1999 and ousted the elected government of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif ruled Pakistan till 2008 as chief executive and PresidentHe was born in New Delhi in 1943 and migrated to Pakistan after Partition in 1947This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever