Pervez Musharraf

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pervez Musharraf

• Did Pervez Musharraf smoke?: Yes

• Musharraf was born in Delhi, British India to a family which belonged to Sayyid nobility. During the 1947 India-Pakistan partition, his family moved to Pakistan. At that time, he was four years old.

• In childhood, Pervez Musharraf was fondly called as “Palloo” by his mother and other family members.

• ‘Neharwali Haveli’ was the name of his ancestral home, which literally meant ‘house by the canal.’ Next door lived the family of Syed Ahmed Khan, an Indian Muslim pragmatist. 

• His father, who was a Civil Servant in Pakistan, later joined Pakistan’s foreign ministry and in 1949, he took up an assignment in Turkey where he served as a diplomat. The family returned to Pakistan in 1956.

• After returning to Pakistan, Musharraf attended Saint Patrick’s School in Karachi. 

• Musharraf studied mathematics at Forman Christian College, Lahore, and performed quite well. He, however, developed an interest in Economics later on.

• He attended Pakistan Military Academy at just 18. While at college, Musharraf shared his room with PQ Mehdi of the Pakistan Airforce and Abdul Aziz Mirza of the Navy.

• After joining the Pakistan Army with the artillery regiment in 1964, his first battleship experience was fighting for the Khemkaran sector in the Second Kashmir War in 1965. For his gallantry during the war, he was honoured with the Imtiazi Sanad medal.

• Upon the recommendation of his commanding officer in Sialkot, Musharraf was selected to join the special force school. There, he passed some rigorous exams and underwent physically tough training.

• He then joined the Special Service Group (SSG) for the joint operations. Between 1966 and 1972, he was initially promoted to Army Captain and then to Major.

• Musharraf was a company commander of the Commando battalion of SSG during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, which was fought between Pakistan and India.

• He studied political science at National Defence University in the 1980s and began working as an assistant professor of war studies at the Command and Staff College. He then joined the National Defence University as an assistant professor of political science.

• For his wide experience in mountain and arctic warfare, General Zia-ul-Haq, the then President of Pakistan and Chief of Army staff promoted him to the post of Brigade Commander of a new brigade of SSG and commissioned him near Siachen Glacier in 1987.

• Between 1988 and 1989, Musharraf was a Brigadier and had proposed the Kargil Infiltration to the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. It was, however, rejected by the latter.

• He began pursuing a Master’s at the Royal College of Defense Studies, Britain in 1990 under Commandant General Antony Walker. Musharraf graduated in 1991 with excellent remarks because of his thesis titled “Impact of Arms Race in the Indo-Pak Subcontinent.”

• In 1991, he was promoted to Major General. 

• On 7 October 1998, he was appointed the Chief of Army Staff with the rank of General. 

• On 9 April 1999, he was appointed the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

• On 14 and 25 December 2003, two unsuccessful assassination attempts were made on Musharraf’s life.

• In 2006, Musharraf published his autobiography titled ‘In the Life of Fire: A Memoir.’ 

• While in Turkey, he had a dog named “Whiskey” which gave him a lifelong love for dogs.

• On 5 February 2023, he died at American Hospital Dubai, where he had been undergoing treatment for amyloidosis; he had been living in self-imposed exile in Dubai since 2016.