Imran Khan, a Pakistani politician and former Pakistani cricketer, who recently got married for the third time, to faith healer Bushra Maneka, has found himself in middle of controversy. As reported by Geo TV, the wedding took place in the first week of January and not on 18th February as reported in media.
The report, which was originally published on 6th January, broke the news of Khan’s third marriage, which Khan dismissed as Sharif family’s vendetta against him.
1. For 3 days I have been wondering have I looted a bank; or money laundered bns in nation’s wealth; or ordered a model-town-like killing spree; or revealed state secrets to India? I have done none of these but discovered I have committed a bigger crime: wanting to get married.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 9, 2018
5. I have known the Sharifs for 40 years and I know all their sordid personal lives but I would never stoop to the level of exposing these sordid details.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 9, 2018
He did ask his supporters and well wishers to pray that he finds his personal happiness which, except for a few years, he has been deprived of.
6. All I ask of my well wishers and supporters is that they pray I find personal happiness which, except for a few years, I have been deprived of.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 9, 2018
In little over a month of the above denial, Khan solemnised his marriage with Bushra, a mother of five and former wife of a government servant. According to the Geo TV report, Bushra’s friend has claimed that the wedding couldn’t have taken place in January since Bushra’s iddat period (the period of waiting for a woman must observe after death of her spouse or divorce, during which she may not marry another man), which is 90 days in Pakistan, got over on 14th February.
Geo TV claims that while the iddat period got over on 14th February, Khan had proposed to Bushra back in January, i.e. when she was still observing the iddat period, which is not allowed as per Islam. However, as per some Islamic school of thoughts, the proposal during iddat period is prohibited only when the woman is a widow, not a divorcee.
Jang/Geo TV group has been at loggerheads with Imran Khan of PTI for some time now. In January this year, the group sent a legal notice to Khan demanding he issues an unconditional public apology and pay Rs. 1 billion in ‘token’ damages for making allegedly defamatory statements against Jang/Geo Group, its CEO and Editor in Chief since last four years.
