Imran has nothing to do with my divorce, says Khawar Maneka

• Says false reports concerning family extremely distressful

LAHORE: Khawar Fareed Maneka, former husband of Bushra Maneka – the alleged third wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan – has categorically denied statements that Imran Khan was responsible for the split between the two.

Talking to a TV channel on Sunday, Khawar Fareed Maneka said that he has not seen a more pious woman than his ex-wife and false reporting concerning his family has distressed the members extremely.

Khawar, a customs officer, went on to say that Imran Khan is the noblest person he has met and he did not cause any damage to his relationship with his ex-wife. He warned the private television channel of pursuing all possible legal actions in case false reporting was not stopped.

Khan considers the Maneka household his spiritual home, he added.

Separately, son of Bushra Maneka has chastised the private TV channel for alleged bogus reportage concerning his mother, who he said had never stepped out of her house without a veil.

Denial of Bushra Maneka’s former husband and son has come in after a statement, associated with Khawar Fareed Maneka was broadcast earlier on Sunday according to which Imran Khan caused his split up with Bushra Maneka. It was reported that he divorced Bushra Maneka over the issue.

A clarification was released by PTI on Sunday after a report carried by the same media group on Saturday claimed that PTI chief and Bushra Maneka had married.

A journalist with the media group filed the story claiming that Khan was married for the third time and it was Bushra Maneka with whom he had tied the knot this time, a report that Musa Maneka branded a conspiracy of the TV channel.

PTI clarified that the report was completely false and that Imran had proposed marriage to Bushra Maneka. However, she sought time to take her five children and family in confidence.

“To set the record straight, Imran Khan proposed marriage to Bushra Maneka. But she asked for time to make a final decision after consulting her family, including her children,” PTI’s clarification read. It further read: “It is indeed sad to see this extremely private and sensitive matter be made the subject of an erroneous story leading to all manner of public conjecture.”

It read, “If and when the proposal is accepted by Bushra Maneka for the marriage, Imran Khan will announce it publicly in the proper manner. Till then we request the media to give the two families, especially the children, their privacy.”

Reportedly, the PTI chief holds Maneka family in his highest regards and considers Bushra and her former husband, two of his spiritual leaders. Imran is said to have first met Bushra Maneka in 2015 at a time when PTI was electioneering for NA-154 constituency by-election in Lodhran.

Khawar Fareed Maneka and Bushra Maneka separated with each other some three months ago in what the former has claimed was a reason private to the family and not needed to be clarified.

Bushra Maneka, who Imran Khan has proposed to be his wife after his divorces with Jemima Goldsmith and Reham Khan, has five children with the first husband.

Musa Maneka and Ibrahim Maneka, her two sons, graduated from Aitchison College in 2013 and pursued higher studies in varsities abroad while her eldest daughter Mehru Maneka is the daughter-in-law of Member of Punjab Assembly (MPA) Atta Maneka.