Some circles in Pakistan observe 12th October as Black Day because it was this same day in 1999 when Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf had deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after enforcing Marshal Law. Musharraf then went on to rule the country for nine years.
General Pervez Musharraf was on his way back to Pakistan from Sri Lanka on flight PK 805 when the pilot, Capt. Sarwat, was told Karachi’s Air Traffic Controller that he could not land in Karachi airport. Capt. Sarwat, wondering what could be happening in Karachi as it was a clear night, asked the control tower if he could divert the plane to Nawabshah airfield instead? He was told it was closed as well.
“All airfields in Pakistan are closed, you can not land in Pakistan”, said a senseless voice on the radio.
The situation was alarming because when Capt. Sarwat refueled his plane at Male, he had chosen Nawabshah airfield as an alternative. This meant that in case of an emergency he could divert his plane to Nawabshah airfield, 110 nautical miles north of Karachi, and could keep flying for 45 minutes before landing in there.
It is a standard fuel policy of all airlines of the world to choose an alternate location and keep enough fuel to reach there in case of an emergency and still be able to fly about 45 minutes before landing.
However, here the condition was that the plane was not being allowed to land anywhere in Pakistan. Capt. Sawat thrice told the control tower that he did not have enough fuel to go elsewhere, but there was no response.
The lives of 190 passengers on-board were in danger. It was at this time that Capt. Sarwat informed General Pervez Musharraf of the situation.
When General Pervez Musharraf arived in the cockpit, he was told by the flight engineer that with only five and half tons of fuel remaining, there were two options left where the plane could land, Chabahar in Iran and Ahmadabad in India. However, Chabahar, being a new airfield and with no night landing facility, could not be considered. The only remaining option was Ahmadabad, India.
Pervez Musharraf flatly refused to land in India.
With just 15 minutes of fuel left in the tanks, Karachi Air Control Tower contacted the plane and asked it to land in Karachi. It was General Iftikhar on the radio line. He informed Pervez Musharraf of the situation and told him that Army was in control.
Nawaz Sharif had announced the retirement of General Pervez Musharraf two hours ago while he was mid air. DG ISI General Ziauddin Butt had instantly been nominated as the new Army Chief. However, the army’s rank-and-file refused to accept this sudden move by the prime minister.
The coup was thus not initiated by General Pervez Musharraf. It was initiated by Nawaz Sharif by removing an Army Chief while he was mid air and implemented by Army Generals who were present on the ground. Nawaz Sharif and Ziauddin Butt both were arrested.
The coup was the start of the nine-years-long reign of Pervez Musharraf. During his reign, Pakistan prospered economically. From a country that was considered as a failed state, it went up to be termed as a rising Asian Tiger. However, there were also some controversial decisions taken by him during this time.
The list of controversial decisions include reference against former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Lal Masjid Operation, National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO).
In a recent interview Pervez Musharraf said that NRO, through which corruption cases against politicians and other officials were closed, was the only decision which he felt was wrong and ill advised. He said he himself was against closing corruption cases but then after numerous discussions he had to take that decision.
“There were reasons for taking such a decision but still I honestly think that it was a bad decision and should not have been taken”, he said.
On the issue of reference against former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, he said that he still stood by his decision. He said he sent a reference to the supreme judicial council against Justice Itikhar Chaudhry, but the matter was politicized for vested interests. “But everyone in Pakistan now knows the true character of Iftikhar Chaudhry; all agree that I took the right decision”, he asserted.
He also stood by his Lal Masjid operation decision. “It had to be taken in the larger interest of the country”, he said.
On the recent border tension between India and Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan must strongly respond to any aggression on the border. He lamented Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision of attending the swearing in ceremony of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Narendra Modi is the sworn enemy of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif should not have gone to India for his swearing in ceremony”, he said.
Pervez Musharraf said that those who call 12th October a Black Day of Pakistan’s history, were actually the ones who were either biased or ignorant. “You can’t even compare Nawaz Sharif and Zardari governments’ performance with the performance of my government. I would consider that an offence”, said the former President of Pakistan.
“All they say is the cliche line of ‘bringing and upholding democracy’
“What democracy? I mean at the end of the day, it’s all about public welfare. What have they done for the poor people?
“They call me a dictator, but I implemented Local Government System, I gave freedom to media, that’s true democracy.
“I will let the people of Pakistan to decide whether 12th Oct. was a Black Day or not
“I will let people to decide whether I was a dictator or not
“It’s not the names that should be given importance, it’s how you act that counts and I acted more democratically than these so called champions of democracy”, said Gen. Pervez Musharraf during an interview on 12th October, 2014.
