Shashi Tharoor calls Pervez Musharraf ‘real force for peace’, Union minister reminds him of Kargil War
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday called former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf ‘real force for peace’, drawing Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat’s ire. Shashi Tharoor shared a tweet to condole the death of the former Pakistan President, who passed away today at a Dubai hospital after prolonged illness.
“Pervez Musharraf, Former Pakistani President, Dies of Rare Disease”: Once an implacable foe of India, he became a real force for peace 2002-2007. I met him annually in those days at the @un &found him smart, engaging & clear in his strategic thinking. RIP,” Tharoor tweeted.
Reacting to his tweet, Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that he should read the history of Kargil War once again. For the unversed, it was Musharraf, the then Pakistani military general, who was responsible for the Kargil War back in 1999, where he backstabbed his government and sent Pakistani intruders into India.
Musharraf launched audacious military operations against India along the Mushkoh-Drass-Kargil-Batalik front in Jammu and Kashmir in March 1999, betraying the Lahore Declaration just a month after it was signed on February 21. The Lahore Declaration was a bilateral agreement and governance treaty between India and Pakistan.
Pervez Musharraf passes away
The four-star general who ruled Pakistan for nearly a decade, Pervez Musharraf passed away at the age of 79 in a hospital in Dubai after prolonged illness. He had been undergoing medical treatment in Dubai since March 2016.
Musharraf was undergoing treatment for amyloidosis, a rare disease that occurs when an abnormal protein builds up in organs and interferes with the normal function.
Musharraf has been living in Dubai for the last eight years as he was facing charges back home for the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007. He had earlier expressed his desire to spend the “rest of his life” in Pakistan, and wanted to return to his home country as soon as possible.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condoled Musharraf’s death and tweeted, “I offer my condolences to the family of General (rtd) Pervez Musharraf. May the departed soul rest in peace!”
Pervez Musharraf was the tenth President of Pakistan after he seized power following a successful bloodless military coup in 1999. He served as the 10th Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan (CJCSC) from 1998 to 2001 and the 7th top general from 1998 to 2007.
