Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz tells story of Musharraf’s takeover
Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz tells story of Musharraf’s takeover
ISLAMABAD: Lt-Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz tells story of Musharraf’s takeover on October 12, 1999 and toppling Nawaz Sharif’s elected government .
He writes in his book eh Khamoshi Kahan Tuk” that the decision was taken that if [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif removed Musharraf in his absence from Pakistan, the government should be quickly overthrown.
Lt-Gen (retd) Shahid Aziz, who was then the Director General of the Military Operations says, “I authorize all three — Gen Mahmood [Ahmed], Gen Aziz [Khan] and [Gen] Shahid [Aziz] — individually to issue orders for toppling the government,” was what the then Chief of the Army Staff Gen Pervez Musharraf said “authorizing and holding us responsible” while ending the meeting, according to the book “Yeh Khamoshi Kahan Tuk”.
Musharraf tried to develop consensus on certain political issues
“I am saying this so that if there is no communication amongst you or any other impediment crops up, there is no hindrance in taking the action,” Musharraf said, wrapping up the discussion. This was the last meeting before Musharraf embarked upon his Sri Lanka visit.
The book says the decision was that if [Prime Minister] Nawaz Sharif removed Musharraf in his absence from Pakistan, the government should be quickly overthrown. It adds that for many days, meetings were being held at Musharraf’s residence in this connection, which were attended by Shahid Aziz, Mahmood Ahmed, Commander 10 Corps, Aziz Khan, Chief of General Staff, Gen Ihsanul Haq, Director General of the Military Intelligence, Brig Rashed Qureshi, Inter-Services Public Relations chief and Musharraf’s personal staff officer.
