PTI confirms rumours of Imran’s marriage not greatly exaggerated

After rejecting it on all fora and terming it a rumour, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has confirmed that party chief Imran Khan has married Bushra Bibi in a ceremony that took place in Lahore on Sunday.

“Wishing Chairman @ImranKhanPTI and his wife a happy married life. May Allah bless the couple,” read a tweet on PTI’s official Twitter handle.

Wishing Chairman @ImranKhanPTI and his wife a happy married life . May Allah bless the couple. #MubarakImranKhan pic.twitter.com/BYHQ9CCaA8

— PTI (@PTIofficial) February 18, 2018

The PTI spokesperson, Fawad Chaudhary, said that the marriage was solemnised on Sunday at Bushra’s resident. The nikah was performed by Mufti Saeed in a simple ceremony according to the wishes of the PTI chief.

The PTI chief and Bushra Bibi 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 on Saturday while speaking to a foreign news outlet.

“Even now, it is quite evident that the marriage has been solemnised but why is it being said that only the marriage proposal has been sent across,” she said while bashing Imran for claiming that “he had only sent a proposal”.

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

“I met her two years ago and whenever I met her [Bushra], I see her behind a veil. I have not seen her face to this day,” Imran clarified marriage controversy surrounding his life.

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.

On January 12, Pakistan Today had published a report confirming the marriage of Imran.

Imran Khan married Bushra Maneka on January 1. The wedding was reportedly solemnised in the 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 enquiring 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.