Imran Khan reveals he did not see Bushra's face until after
their marriage
Imran Khan, the chairman of
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has stated that his failed marriage to journalist
Reham Khan was his biggest life mistake. In an interview with a British
newspaper, Mail Online, held at his residence in Bani Gala, Khan also discussed
his current marriage to Bushra Maneka, a scholar and Sufi spiritual guide,
revealing that he had not seen her face until after their marriage. Khan
proposed to her without seeing her because she never met men without her face
being covered with a full veil. The only idea he had of what she looked like
came from an old photograph he saw in her house.
Imran Khan's bride will not meet men
other than her husband with her face uncovered, nor venture unveiled outside
her house, which she rarely leaves. She is a mother of five and was still
married to her first husband, a senior customs official named Khawar Fareed
Maneka, when she and Imran Khan first met three years ago. When Bushra finally
removed her veil, Khan says he was not disappointed, and he is now happily
married. He admits that it would have been unthinkable if someone had told him
he would marry someone whose face he had not seen.
Imran Khan says that although he knows
more about physical attraction than anyone else, he has gradually realized that
the character of a person and their mind and intellect are much more important
than the physical because that has the smallest shelf life in his experience.
He has great respect for his wife's intellect and character.
Bushra's fame as a Sufi scholar
is widespread in Pakistan. She is known as a leader of pilgrimages to the
shrine of the Sufi poet Sheik Fariduddin Ganjshakar at Pakpattan, one of the
holiest sites on the subcontinent. Since their wedding, the couple has also
been on a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Imran Khan says Bushra's sister is a
PTI member, and she introduced the couple when he was struggling to understand
the teachings of a 13th Century Sufi saint. Gradually, the visits became more
frequent, and they grew close personally. However, Khan says he would never
have dreamed of proposing marriage had Bushra not, last autumn, gotten a
divorce. After a short interval, he proposed to her in January without seeing
her face.
If he does win the election, Khan
says Bushra will not attend official functions. The one-time nightclub habitué
insists he does not mind, and he is quite happy with his life.
.webp)
