New Delhi: Former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf passed away today (5 February) after a prolonged illness. The four-star general – who ruled Pakistan for nearly a decade after seizing power in a bloodless coup in 1999 – was suffering from a rare disease called amyloidosis and died aged 79 in a Dubai hospital.
The former General of the Pakistani Army was born in 1943 in New Delhi. Musharraf was the second of three brothers and lived in Neharwali Haveli in Old Delhi’s Daryaganj area.
The mansion is now situated behind the famous Golcha Cinema of Daryaganj.
While it is said that more than 20 families live in the haveli these days, the original structure had two parts and was occupied by two families.
According to media reports, Musharraf’s grandmother Amina Begum and her sister lived in one part while his grandfather and Amina’s three brothers lived in the other part.
Pervez Musharraf’s family left India after partition in 1947
Musharraf was four years old when his family moved to the newly created state of Pakistan after partition in 1947.
Some media reports claimed that Musharraf’s family had left the mansion under the custody of a Jain family.
From 1949 to 1956, Musharraf was in Turkey, as his father Syed Musharraf-ud-Din was stationed in Ankara.
On his return from Turkey, Musharraf studied at St. Patrick’s High School, Karachi and then at FC College, Lahore.
Pervez Musharraf joined the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961
Pervez Musharraf joined the Pakistan Military Academy in 1961 and was commissioned into the Artillery Regiment in 1964.
He fought as a young officer in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, and also participated in the Indo-Pak War of 1971 as a company commander in a commando battalion.
Musharraf rose to the rank of General and was appointed as Chief of Army Staff on October 7, 1998 by then Prime Minister Sharif.
He was given the additional charge of Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee on 9 April 1999. Six months later, he toppled the Nawaz Sharif government and became head of state, designated as Chief Executive.