Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf (born August 11, 1943 in Delhi, British India) is the current Military ruler of Pakistan. He took power on October 12, 1999 after a coup d'état and assumed the title of president of Pakistan on June 20, 2001
Family background
General Musharraf's parents came from an educated middle class Syed family and both were college-educated. His mother, Begum Zehra
Musharraf, studied English Literature. She worked for the International Labour Organisation
(ILO) and retired in 1986. Syed Musharraf-ud-Din, Musharraf's father, was a graduate of Aligarh University in India. He joined Pakistan's Foreign Service in a clerical position and progressed in his career, retiring as a Section Officer in the Foreign Ministry. He spent several years in the capacity of support staff in the Pakistan Embassy in Ankara, Turkey where Musharraf spent part of his childhood and learned to speak fluent Turkish.
General Pervez Musharraf was born in Daryaganj in Delhi, India and after the independence of Pakistan, in 1947, his family settled in Karachi,
Sindh, Pakistan.
General Musharraf is married to Begum Sehba Musharraf and has one son and a daughter. His brother is a medical doctor in Chicago.
Education
Musharraf attended Saint Patrick's High School, Karachi graduating in 1958 before going on to attend Forman Christian College in Lahore.
Military training
In 1961, he entered the Pakistan Military Academy at Kakul and was later commissioned into the Pakistan Artillery. A graduate of the Staff College,
Quetta, and the National Defense College, Rawalpindi, General Musharraf also a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies, United Kingdom
Military career
Musharraf participated in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 as a Company Commander in the SSG Commando Battalion. Later he commanded Regiments of Artillery, there after an Infantry Brigade and then went on to command an Infantry Division.
In September 1987, heading a newly formed SSG at Khapalu base (Kashmir), he launched an unsuccessful assault to capture the Indian held posts of Bilafond La in Siachen Glacier.
On promotion to the rank of Major General on January 15, 1991, he was assigned the command of an Infantry Division. Later, on promotion to Lieutenant General on October 21, 1995 he took over command of the elite Strike Corps of the Pakistan Army. In 1998, following the resignation of General Jehangir
Karamat, he was promoted to General and took over as the Chief of Army Staff (an honour that previously had been designated as Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army.) In 1999, he led the Pakistan Army during the Kargil Conflict.
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