Pakistan’s last military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, has died in Dubai at the age of 79. I was in Islamabad as a correspondent for The Hindu when General Musharraf took power through a bloodless coup in October 1999. He was the presiding officer for the Kargil incursion but later turned peacemaker, signing a milestone agreement with then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in January 2004.
Gen. Musharraf, like the man he ousted from office, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had to eventually leave Pakistan for medical treatment in March 2016. He resigned as President in 2008 following a protracted civil society movement led by lawyers.
As the Pakistani Government announced that Musharraf’s body would be flown to Islamabad from Dubai, what is the former General’s legacy? How is he perceived today in Pakistan?