October 12, 1999 Pakistan Army's commando action!

ISLAMABAD: The Sharif brothers have finally appointed the officer they wanted to be as their Chief of the Army Staff in 1999, Gen Ziauddin Butt as the Chairman of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Inspection Team.

A senior official of the Punjab government confirmed the appointment to The Statesmen and said that the hassle-free job suits Ziauddin given the condition of his health. Until recently, Ziauddin was the top executive of a Punjab-based construction giant, which had picked him up with the prime objective of getting it out of troubles that it was facing at the hands of the Shahbaz Sharif government, said an informed source.

He said Ziauddin did succeed in resolving the contentious matters of the contractor to some extent but even his assistance could not help totally alleviate its woes, compounded by the death of its owner. A few months back, he quit.

The source said that sole consideration of his appointment, as the top executive of the company was to exploit his influence that he might have over the Punjab government. Ziauddin Butt had held the office of the chief of the army staff hardly for a couple of hours on the eventful day of Oct 12, 1999 when Pervez Musharraf had proclaimed martial law.

The decision of the Nawaz Sharif to dismiss Pervez Musharraf on his way back home from Sri Lanka and appoint Lt-Gen Ziauddin Butt in his place after promoting him as four-star general, had led to the imposition of the military rule.

Since then nothing was ever heard about Ziauddin. He remained under custody of different premier agencies for years with his health continuously failing. Originally hailing from Lahore, he also quietly lived with one of his close relatives in a middle class residential area Islamabad for quite some time when he was faced with the most difficult time of his life.

Enchanted with Ziauddin’s qualities and loyalty during his incumbency as chief of the ISI, Nawaz made him the Army chief on the turbulent day and the military stars were especially arranged from the market, not from the army store, to pin on his shoulders just to establish that he has taken over as the chief commander and the incumbent stood dismissed. These images were then telecast on the state-run television.

Ziauddin remained in touch with the Sharif brothers when they were in Saudi Arabia in exile. They avoided accommodating him in the government as long as Musharraf remained president. This is the first time after eleven years that Ziauddin Butt has got some peaceful and somewhat decent government job.