File photo. Asif Hassan—AFP
The family of former military ruler Gen. (retd.) Pervez Musharraf, who has been in exile in Dubai since 2016, on Friday denied reports that he had passed away or was on the ventilator.
“He is not on the ventilator,” read the statement issued by the family through the former Army chief’s Twitter account. “[He] has been hospitalized for the last 3 weeks due to a complication of his ailment (amyloidosis),” it said. “Going through a difficult stage where recovery is not possible and organs are malfunctioning. Pray for ease in his daily living,” it added.
The statement was issued in response to rumors on social media—and some foreign publications—that the former president had been placed on a ventilator earlier this week and subsequently passed away.
According to the family, Musharraf, 78, has been hospitalized for nearly a month and is undergoing treatment for his ailment. In recent years, the former ruler has been visibly ailing, with pictures released to the public showing his deteriorating health.
Musharraf left for Dubai in 2016 to seek medical treatment while undergoing a treason trial for suspending the Constitution in 2017. He had been indicted on the charges in 2014. He was sentenced to death in absentia in the high treason case by a special court in December 2019; this sentence was later nullified.
Reacting to reports of Musharraf’s ailing health, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday said that in the present scenario, all obstacles to the former military’s return to Pakistan should be removed. “Past events should not be allowed to interfere” in this humanitarian endeavor, he said. “May Allah give him health and grant him the dignity to live out this part of life,” he added.