Pervez Musharraf was born on August 11, 1943 in undivided India's Delhi. After Partition in 1947, his family moved to Pakistan. The son of a career diplomat, he chose a life in the armed forces. Musharraf fought in the 1965 and 1971 India-Pakistan wars.
After serving in the artillery, the infantry, and commando units, and teaching stints at the Staff College in Quetta and the War Wing of the National Defence College, Musharraf finally reached the top office. He was appointed chief of army staff in October 1998 by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
A year later, Musharraf overthrew Sharif, and snatched power in a bloodless coup. In 2001, he declared himself the President of Pakistan. A year later, elections were held but after disqualification of Sharif, and Benazir Bhutto.
In 2007, Musharraf's re-election bid led to a clash with the judiciary. The dictator sacked the Chief Justice, imposed emergency, and arrested Opposition leaders.
However, in the 2008 elections, Musharraf's party fared badly. Subsequently, the Sharif-Zardari coalition pursued Musharraf's impeachment leading to his resignation as President in August 2008.
Musharraf tried to make a political comeback in 2013, but was arrested under various cases. Three years later, the former dictator went to Dubai for medical treatment. In 2018, it came to light that Musharraf was suffering from amyloidosis.
In 2019, he was sentenced to death after being found guilty of high treason for subverting the Constitution in 2007. Musharraf's execution was considered unlikely as he was not expected to return to Pakistan from Dubai. A year later, the conviction and death sentence were overturned.
On June 10, Musharraf's family tweeted from his account that had been hospitalised for 3 weeks due to a complication of his ailment. The statement said that Musharraf was going through a difficult stage where recovery was not possible and his organs were malfunctioning.