There are people in India heaping praises on Pervez Musharraf. But lets not forget that he not only harmed India, but harmed Pakistan more, how?

  1. Derailed the Indo-Pak peace process: Contrary to what is being said, in reality he derailed the peace process. Mr. Shariff and Mr. Vajpayee had made a sincere attempt to improve Indo-Pak relations by Bus diplomacy (starting bus services between India and Pak), resumed cricket ties and several other Confidence Building Measures (CBM). But the Kargil war masterminded by Musharraf blew the peace efforts of Mr. Shariff and Mr. Vajpayee to smithereens.
  2. Dethroned a democratically elected Govt: Mr. Shariff was democratically elected in Pakistan. Musharraf staged a military coup to grab power. He held Mr. Sharif under house arrest at a government guesthouse. Mr. Sharif was formally indicted in November on charges of hijacking, kidnapping, attempted murder, and treason for preventing Musharraf’s flight from landing at Karachi airport on the day of the coup. Sharif was placed in Adiala Jail, infamous for hosting Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s trial. Mr. Sharif was expected to be sentenced to death, but bowing to pressure from US, Mr. Sharif was exiled out of Pakistan thereby sparing his life.
  3. Tampered the Pakistani Judiciary: Shortly after Musharraf’s takeover, Musharraf issued Oath of Judges Order No. 2000, which required judges to take a fresh oath of office.
  4. Tampered the Pakistani Constitution: After the coup he suspended the Constitution and assumed power as Chief Executive. The Legal Framework Order, 2002 was issued by Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf in August 2002. It provided for the general elections of 2002 and the revival of the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, and added numerous amendments to the Constitution. The following month, the Supreme Court overruled Musharraf, ruling that the amendments would have to be ratified by Parliament in the manner provided in the 1973 Constitution—the amendments would have to be approved by two-thirds of both houses of the bicameral body thereby nullifying his act.
  5. Demeaned the prestige of president’s office: In 2001 he declared himself the President of Pakistan. It was only after massive protests he had to relinquish his power.

Hope he remains the last military dictator to rule Pakistan.

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