President Pervez Musharraf's family members here are supporting and giving donations to a US presidential candidate who strongly opposes the Bush Administration policy of supporting and keeping the retired general in the presidency.
Dr. Naveed Musharraf, President's real brother, and Irum Bilal Musharraf, his daughter-in-law, gave donations to Barack Obama, instead of offering support to Bush's Republican Party candidate, Senator John McCain.
The US Federal Election Commission records available to The News indicate that Musharraf's family has never been supportive of Republicans, in term of donations. They supported Senator John F. Kerry in his presidential bid against George Bush when he ran for his second term in 2004.
During a speech in the beginning of this year, Obama said the Bush administration should not make a choice between the extremists and Musharraf but the people of Pakistan. It is well known in the Pakistani community in the US that Musharraf's family, settled in the US, including his son Bilal, have been quietly asking him to revise his decision to continue fighting for his position despite the Feb 18 election results in which all the anti-Musharraf political parties won a heavy mandate.
Even Bilal was among the well-wishers offering the advice, a source close to family said. After the proclamation of the emergency, there was a tremendous rise in anti-Musharraf protests staged by Pakistani-Americans. When Stanford University students planned a similar protest, their colleague, Bilal, requested them to drop the idea saying he would personally convey their sentiments to his father, the source said.
Bilal has been a student at Stanford University that has a special admission quota for the children of world leaders. Dr. Naveed Musharraf, brother of Pervez Musharraf, is a US-citizen living in Chicago and is politically affiliated to the Democratic Party. He contributed for Obama when he contested for the Illinois Senate seat and gave donations to Senator Kerry when he made a presidential bid.
According to the election commission record, Irum resides in Oak Brook city of Illinois' state. There is another family member, Nancy Musharraf, but her relationship with President Musharraf could not be ascertained.
An anaesthesiologist by profession, Naveed has been living in Chicago for the last 34 years. His wife, Linda, a Philippino-American, died in 2005. His two sons: Zarar and Ather, are college students, according to a newspaper report. Naveed is member of a Chicago-based think-tank on South Asia, the South Asian Group of Action and Reflection.
Courtesy: The News
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