By Muhammad Najeeb, IANS
Islamabad : In a ceremony marked by pomp and some emotion too, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf Wednesday quit as army chief and shed his uniform after 46 years in service saying that his heart would always remain with the force.
“Tomorrow, I’ll be not in uniform but my heart will remain with the army,” Musharraf said in an emotional speech at the grand ceremony in the garrison town Rawalpindi while handing over the baton to his trusted aide, Vice Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani.
He presented the army chief’s ‘stick’ to General Kayani and praised his professionalism. “I know him for the last 20 years when he was a colonel. He is an intelligent and able officer,” said Musharraf, who handed over power under tremendous pressure from the within and outside the country.
Musharraf Thursday begins his second term as president — this time as a civilian. The newly appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar will administer the oath of office at the presidency.
“I regret to quit the army, but every one has to go, every one will go,” Musharraf said in his address at the function attended by only a few civilians, including caretaker Prime Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, his cabinet colleagues and some senior members of the bureaucracy.
“After remaining in uniform for 46 years I am saying goodbye to this army. This army is my life, this army is my passion. I have loved this army,” said Musharraf, after a nine-year reign as army chief.
Musharraf, 64, took over power October 1999 by sacking former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the man who appointed him army chief the year before by superseding five generals senior to Musharraf.
“Whatever I am today is because of this army and whatever I learnt is from this army,” Musharraf said, pointing out that he had fought two wars.
He added that the army today faced several challenges besides the routine threats at borders.
“Army fights against enemy, against floods, against terrorism and stands for the country in any difficulty.”
By shedding his uniform that he has often referred to as his “second skin”, Musharraf fulfils one of the long-held demands of his political rivals and Western allies.
Musharraf will retain critical powers under the emergency rule he imposed on Nov 3. He imposed the emergency in his capacity of army chief but transferred those powers to the presidency