File photo. Farooq Naeem—AFP
Former military ruler Gen. (retd.) Pervez Musharraf’s family on Sunday said there are significant challenges facing his return to Pakistan, including an absence of medical facilities to treat his illness.
In a statement posted on his official Twitter account, they said that official and unofficial channels had reached out to them in recent days, pledging to facilitate Musharraf’s return to Pakistan. “We sincerely appreciate these overtures, since Pakistan is home,” they said.
However, they stressed, the family has to consider significant medical, legal and security challenges before making any decision on the former Army chief’s return to his homeland. “An uninterrupted supply and administration and experimental drug daratumumab [is] needed, alongside associated treatment of Amyloidosis, which are currently not available in Pakistan,” they added.
Reports of Musharraf’s return to Pakistan have been circulating since the start of this month, when some media outlets falsely claimed that he had passed away in Dubai, where he has been in exile since 2016. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whose government was deposed by Musharraf in a military coup in 1999, has even issued a statement saying the incumbent government should facilitate the return of Musharraf.
“I have no personal enmity or tussle with Pervez Musharraf. I do not want anyone else to suffer the traumas that I have to endure for my loved ones,” he wrote in a statement on Twitter, adding that he prayed for the health of the former military ruler.
Similarly, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Babar Iftikhar has said that the military leadership believes that the former Army chief should be allowed to return to Pakistan.
Musharraf, 78, is reportedly in critical condition due to complications caused by amyloidosis, a rare condition caused by a build-up of abnormal protein amyloid in organs and tissues throughout the body. The progressive disease eventually makes it difficult for organs and tissues to work properly.