Former President General Pervez Musharraf died on Sunday at 79 after a prolonged and slow illness. A bloodless coup against Nawaz Sharif’s government in 1999 facilitated his ascent to power after which he declared a state of emergency and suspended the constitution altogether. His divisive regime was marked with human rights abuses, censorship and a complete disintegration of democracy but also a short-lived period of economic growth. It was painfully clear to anyone alive at the time that democracy had lost and military rule was here to stay. Musharraf is remembered most vividly for his close alliance with the United States on its post-9/11 war on terror. He backed the American invasion of Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control in the region, a decision that has since been criticised for producing massive civilian casualties and undue levels of collateral damage. Under his rule, Pakistan became a critical transit point for NATO supplies headed to landlocked Afghanistan. After the American invasion, an influx of Taliban fighters fled across the border back into Pakistan. They quickly regrouped to form the now notorious Pakistani Taliban, the country’s deadliest terrorist organisation. With Musharraf’s stamp of approval, the US initiated its anti-militant drone campaign that killed as many civilians as militants. Musharraf suspected he was in grave danger even before the attempts on his life. In 2003, militants tried to assassinate him twice; first, with a bomb planted on a bridge and then with car bombs but he wriggled his way out unfazed. Militant anger towards Musharraf intensified in 2007 when he ordered a raid against Islamabad’s Red Mosque, a sanctuary for militants who opposed Pakistan’s support for the Afghan war. The operation killed over a 100 people, destroying Musharraf’s reputation among the public. Increasingly paranoid, the late General fired the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a decision that provoked mass demonstrations. Soon after, he was impeached for imposing emergency rule and placed on house arrest. After being convicted of high treason in 2019 for suspending the constitution, the late general, who has lived in self-imposed exile since 2016, was sentenced to death, a decision that was later overturned. His complex and tortured legacy is burned into the Pakistani psyche forever. *