Army helped me get out of Pakistan: Musharraf
Musharraf left the country in March after three-year long travel restriction on him was lifted
WASHINGTON DC (Dunya News) – Former president and army chief, Pervez Musharraf on Saturday has reportedly professed role of military in flying him off abroad while Supreme Court tried him for declaring state of emergency on November 3, 2007.
In an interview to The Atlantic in Washington DC, Musharraf said that Pakistani social fabric was not made for democracy.
“Reasonably fair,” he replied when Robert Siegel, the interviewer asked him: “You are an army guy; the army looked after you. You were able to leave despite the government’s efforts to keep you there, fair (assumption)?”
“Army has always had a role since our independence (on August 14, 1947). Army has played a prominent role in the governance of Pakistan, partially because or mainly because of misgovernance by all of the so-called democratically elected governments,” the former dictator said.
"The people of Pakistan love the army; the people of Pakistan demand a lot from the army so I am very proud of the fact that army backed me because I have been with them for over 40 years. I have fought two wars with them and I have fought a number of actions with them so I know they are my constituents,” the former army chief added.
While answering a question about whether he regretted returning to Pakistan, he unequivocally denied by saying that he felt “something bigger than his self really” which compelled him to return back to his homeland.
He alleged the government of politicizing the legal cases against him and stated that the high treason case was a hoax.
Musharraf said: “I was prepared to take the risk.”
Pervez Musharraf fled the country in March, for alleged medical treatment after the Supreme Court permitted him to leave. His name was omitted from the Exit Control List in 2016 at least three years after he was slapped with a ban.
Different legal cases were pursued against him once he returned to the country in April 2013 after a self-imposed exile.
However, Interior Minister from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif-led government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan announced in a press conference, a day before Musharraf left, that the government would not stop him if he left.
It should be noted here that premier Nawaz Sharif was ousted by Musharraf earlier in a coup in 1999. Nawaz Sharif was elected as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for the third time in 2013.
During the seminar in the United States capital, Musharraf also censured Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his claims of carrying out surgical strike in Pakistan. Aggressor India could trigger a war with its irresponsible moves, he warned.
