In a lavishly decorated living room, a man dressed in a Muslim white robe and trousers sits peacefully on a single sofa. A dozen of his supporters, sitting or standing, gathered around him.
This is a photo posted on Twitter by former Pakistani President Al-Musharraf in March 2013. At the time, he had just returned to Pakistan after five years of exile and would face charges of "treason."
So, what exactly is the reason why the former leader of a country has become a "prisoner of the order", and what has the president who has made "great contributions" to the friendship between China and Pakistan go through?
Pervez Musharraf was born on August 1, 1943 in New Delhi, India. At that time, India and Pakistan had not yet been "separated" and belonged to the british colonies.
After the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, he moved with his family to Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, where he continued his life.
In 1961, Musharraf entered a prestigious military academy in Brazil's Northern Frontier Province and embarked on the path of "professional soldiers".
After entering the army, Musharraf was promoted very quickly due to his excellent combat performance and sober mind. He rose quickly from a junior officer like a platoon commander to a "senior officer" at the brigade commander level, and his rank was promoted to general in 1998.
A year later, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Army and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by the Prime Minister (the same year he became Chief Executive Officer of the National Security Council). On June 20, 2001, Musharraf was inaugurated as President of Pakistan and continues to hold key positions in the military.
As the fourth "military president" in Pakistan's history, the "achievements" of Musharraf's administration are not only well-known at home, but also widely recognized by the Western world. He himself was listed in time magazine in the United States in 2002 and became one of the "six outstanding figures in the world" that year.
After coming to power, Musharraf's first step was to "rectify the rule of officials." Purging corrupt elements, purifying the ranks and improving the image of the government are Musharraf's first goals.
He first set up the "National Inventory Bureau" to launch an anti-corruption and anti-corruption campaign throughout the country from top to bottom, targeting everyone and all strata, including the Pakistani army.
The anti-corruption campaign began in Punjab, and in two years, the province's government departments at all levels have laid off a total of 300,000 employees, especially those who have worked in government departments for more than 25 years and now only know a cup of tea, a cigarette, and a newspaper for half a day, basically have been "dissuaded".
Because in Musharraf's view, they take high salaries, but they occupy the pit and do not, which is really the moth of the government.
On the international stage, Musharraf also shines. The 9/11 incident in 2001 made Musharraf feel that Pakistan was at the corner of the times at this moment, should it follow in the footsteps of the United States and hold high the banner of "anti-terrorism", or maintain the status quo? The final choice will affect the future change of the fate of the Pakistani nation.
After a fierce ideological struggle, Musharraf proceeded from the national interest to determine the "course" of Pakistan's big ship - he made two major decisions despite the opposition of domestic religious forces: one is to fully cooperate with the UNITED Anti-Terrorism; the other is to abandon the Taliban, which has become the target of public criticism
It was These two decisions of Musharraf that brought Pakistan and the United States rapidly closer, and the United States, which had not recognized Musharraf since the coup, also began to support the Musharraf regime in a clear way.
It seems that Musharraf's desire to pull in the United States to support the balance of India has really come true.
Because the United States has taken the lead in taking the lead, other Western countries have also come to the aid of Pakistan's economy, resulting in Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves, in a short period of time, more than any other period in the country's history.
In addition, Pakistan's huge external debt pressure has also been significantly alleviated. We therefore have to admit that Musharraf's decision has taken Pakistan out of the shoals in terms of security and economy.
Musharraf's attitude toward China is also very much in line with his national interest. Before he became president of Pakistan, he valued the friendship between the two countries.
Therefore, as soon as he took office, he made maintaining and developing comprehensive cooperation between China and Pakistan one of the top priorities of the new government.
Since coming to power, Musharraf has visited China at every opportunity and held cordial and friendly meetings and talks with Chinese leaders on many occasions, making new contributions to the comprehensive development of the traditional friendly and cooperative relations between China and Pakistan.
When he was pakistan's chief executive for only two months, he was invited to visit China.
In May 2001, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan, Premier Zhu Rongji was invited to visit Pakistan, and Musharraf personally led a number of cabinet members to the airport to greet him.
During the visit, the two sides signed six economic cooperation agreements, including economic and technological, tourism, etc.
In November 2002, at the important historical moment when the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China was held and the chinese leadership was replaced by the old and new, President Musharraf sent several warm telegrams to warmly congratulate the congress on its complete success and to congratulate the new leader of the Communist Party of China on his election.
In November 2003, Musharraf visited China again and held cordial talks with then-President Hu Jintao.
Musharraf firmly stated to the outside world: "In the new century, Pakistan and China will continue to strengthen this traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation ... I firmly believe that through our efforts, the torch of China-Pakistan friendship will inevitably be passed on from generation to generation. ”
But who would have thought that such a fierce, upright, "good to one neighbor" and peaceful president would be labeled as "treason" in the near future.
In fact, since Musharraf became president, the opposition around him has been endless. Since Pakistan's constitution stipulates that the president of the country and the head of the army cannot be the same person, and Musharraf also held the post of chief of staff of the army during his presidency, this undoubtedly gave the opposition a "pretext" to attack him.
In an effort to quell the opposition's anger and maintain political stability at home, Musharraf announced in a televised speech in 2003 that he would resign as army chief of staff at the end of 2004 to serve only as president of the country.
But then Musharraf found that many of his reform measures could not be implemented without the military power, so he had to announce again that he would continue to serve as the chief of staff of the army, hoping that everyone would understand.
But we all know that political struggles are always life-and-death struggles, and the "opponents" will not have any compassion for you.
So when Musharraf's political opponents learned of the news, they filed a lawsuit against Musharraf in 2007. Although the Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit.
However, in order to "seek stability", Musharraf announced his resignation as chief of the army's chief of staff after his re-election as president in 2008.
Musharraf, who lost his arms and armor, was quickly impeached by the opposition for various reasons, leaving him to resign in August 2008 and step down.
After Musharraf stepped down, he chose to "flee" to Britain. However, Musharraf, who lives overseas, has not given up the "counter-offensive", and he has formed the "All Pakistan Muslim League" in the hope of one day returning to Pakistan to run for the presidency again.
To his surprise, however, the opposition's liquidation of him was far from over. In 2011, Pakistan's counterterrorism court issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf on the grounds that he had been involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Bebuto.
But because Musharra's family is also in Britain, the "arrest warrant" did not pose a substantial threat to him and his family.
In order to deceive Musharraf back to Pakistan, the opposition has another plan, and they have announced to the outside world that the arrest warrant for Musharraf will be revoked and he will be allowed to return to the motherland as a "free body".
Musharraf, who learned that he had regained his "innocence", was overjoyed. In March 2013, the 69-year-old Musharraf returned to Pakistan confidently, ready to start the second spring of his political career.
This brings us to the opening scene: Musharraf and his supporters gathering in the villa.
On April 18, Musharraf, who had just returned home, went to court to apply for an extension of the bail order. As a result, in court, the judge abruptly announced Musharraf's arrest and accused him of declaring a state of emergency in his presidential capacity in 2007, dismissing 60 judges and imposing unlawful detentions on some of them.
They then put Musharraf under house arrest. And he will usher in his "trial" on June 1 of the same year.
From 2013 to 2019, Musharraf was repeatedly convicted of "treason" by the court, but during this period, the "death penalty" has not been carried out because Musharraf has been treated.
In early 2020, Pakistani courts dropped Musharraf's death sentence. But in September of the same year, Musharraf chose to "flee his country" and find a new "shelter".
bibliography:
"Musharraf's Pakistan: Walking on a Tightrope" Wang Shuming
"Strongman in the Military, Governing the Country - Pakistani President Musharraf" Yang Jing
The Fate of Musharraf zhang junrong
"From General to President" Li Shizhen