Karachi: Pakistan’s former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was on Tuesday laid to rest with military honours in an army graveyard here in the presence of his relatives and several retired and serving military officers.
The former president’s namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayers) were held at the Gulmohar Polo Ground in Malir Cantonment in the afternoon in a low key ceremony which was neither attended by President Arif Alvi, nor Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
However, Joint Chiefs of Staff General Sahir Shamshad Mirza and former army chiefs - Qamar Javed Bajwa, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and Aslam Beg - attended the funeral.
Former ISI chiefs - General (retd) Shuja Pasha and General (retd) Zaheerul Islam - and several serving and retired military officers also attended the funeral prayers.
Politicians including Muttahida Qaumi Movement (Pakistan) leaders Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi, Dr Farooq Sattar, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Amir Muqam, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader and former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, former federal information minister Javed Jabbar, were also in attendance.
Musharraf’s coffin was draped in Pakistan’s green and white flag, though the ceremony was not a state funeral. After the funeral prayers, the former army chief’s body was laid to rest at the Army Graveyard.
Musharraf, the architect of the Kargil War in 1999 and Pakistan’s last military ruler, died on Sunday in Dubai after a prolonged illness. The 79-year-old former president was undergoing treatment for amyloidosis in Dubai. He was living in the UAE since 2016 in self-exile to avoid criminal charges back home.
Musharraf’s mortal remains arrived here on Monday on a special flight from Dubai.
His wife Saba, son Bilal, daughter and other close relatives arrived with the body on the special aircraft of Malta aviation arranged by the UAE authorities.