Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday said there should be no obstacle in former president Pervez Musharraf’s return to Pakistan on account of his ill health.
It is noteworthy that Asif is a senior leader in the PML-N, whose government was overthrown by Musharraf in 1999. Nawaz Sharif was premier at the time the government was removed.
Asif said on Twitter that “past events should not bear in the matter” and prayed for the former military ruler’s health so he could live his remaining life with dignity.
Musharraf’s family had clarified on Friday that he was not on a ventilator but had been hospitalised for the last three weeks.
The family had issued the statement after false news of his demise started circulating on social media after some Pakistani and Indian publications carried it.
The retired general’s illness came to light in 2018 when the All Pakistan Muslim League announced that he was suffering from the rare disease amyloidosis.
Amyloidosis is the name for a group of rare, serious conditions caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body. The build-up of amyloid proteins (deposits) can make it difficult for the organs and tissues to work properly.
The party’s Overseas President Afzaal Siddiqui had said that Musharraf’s condition had “weakened his nervous system”. At the time he was being treated in London.
The general ruled the country from 1999 to 2008.
On March 30, 2014, Musharraf was indicted for suspending the Constitution on November 3, 2007.
On December 17, 2019, a special court handed Musharraf the death sentence in the high treason case against him.
The former military ruler left the country in March 2016 for Dubai to seek medical treatment and hasn’t returned to Pakistan since.
