Imran Khan’s third marriage reception to be held in Bani Gala

ISLAMABAD: The reception of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s third marriage with his spiritual adviser Bushra Bibi will be held in Bani Gala after a few days.

According to sources, Khan has decided not to travel abroad yet and also to arrange a reception in Islamabad with limited guests.

PTI sources said that Bushra will be a housewife and will stay at Bani Gala while her children will live with their father. Bushra Bibi will also not participate in any political activities.

After rejecting it on all fora and terming it a rumour, the PTI on Sunday confirmed that Imran Khan has married Bushra in a ceremony that took place in Lahore earlier in the day.

Imran and Bushra were in the news after an English newspaper published a story, claiming that Imran Khan married Bushra on January 1.

Earlier, Reham Khan, ex-wife of Imran, had also claimed that Imran had remarried. Reham, who had remained silent during the month-long controversy of Imran’s alleged third marriage, broke her silence while speaking to a foreign news outlet.

Imran Khan had poured his heart out about the affair after the rumours, saying it hurts that media was targeting his marriage with Bushra Bibi, whom he considers his spiritual leader and has never seen without a veil over the period of his acquaintance.

The PTI chief had asked his followers to pray for his happiness, adding that out of 65 years of his age, he spent only 10 years of married life.

According to earlier reports, Imran Khan married Bushra on January 1. The wedding was reportedly solemnised at Bushra’s residence located in Y-Block of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) in Lahore, soon after which Imran was granted bail by the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad.

After a period of a week, Imran had responded to the media reports and said there was no wedding and that he had only sent a marriage proposal, which too was clandestine. “This whole process was secretive; no one even knew that I had proposed Bushra.”

Expressing dismay over excessive media coverage, he said Bushra is a begum of a “very conservative family” while inquiring whether his wanting to wed was a ‘crime’? He also termed the media coverage as a malicious campaign launched by the Sharif family.

The PTI too had denied the marriage reports. Party leader Shireen Mazari had clarified that Imran had not tied the knot yet.

Bushra Maneka is in her 40s and belongs to the Wattoo clan, of which the Manekas are a sub-clan. Earlier, she was married to Khawar Farid Maneka, a senior customs official in Islamabad but parted ways in recent times.

Imran, getting married for the third time, had earlier married Rehman Khan in Jan 2015, which ended after a period of 10 months.