Ailing in exile

There are reports that the health of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf had taken a turn for the worst, and that his family wants to bring him back to Pakistan so that he can spend his final days in the country. A few years back, Musharraf was diagnosed with amyloidosis — a potentially deadly disease in which abnormal protein build-ups occur around organs and tissues, impairing their functioning. He has been hospitalised in the UAE — where he has been living in exile — for a month, and his family has admitted that “recovery is not possible”. The military has confirmed that Musharraf’s family had approached them to facilitate his return. However, the only comment beyond this, from DG ISPR Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, was that the military leadership’s stance is “that he should come back”.

The reason his family is approaching the quarters where he may still have some influence and admirers is that the ex-dictator could still face legal action on various charges related to his time in power, as well as general reprisal from political parties whose leadership suffered greatly during his rule. However, PML-N founder Nawaz Sharif and several other top leaders have said Musharraf will not face reprisal if he is to return to spend his final days in his homeland. Nawaz made a considerate statement by indirectly referring to his wife, Kulsoom Nawaz, who died in London while Nawaz was in prison in Pakistan. “I don’t want anyone else to suffer the traumas I have had to endure for my loved ones,” Nawaz said, adding that he had no personal enmity with the man who deposed him in a military coup in 1999.

And while there are many legitimate wrongs for which many people may want Musharraf punished, many others may deem it inhuman to put a seriously ill person through the ordeal of a trial, let alone the ensuing punishments. We can debate at a later date whether the former dictator deserves state honours after his death, but for now, let us agree that, like every human being, he has every right to spend his final days in his motherland.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2022.

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