LAHORE – The rumours of Imran Khan’s ‘third marriage’ took Pakistan by storm on Saturday, becoming the hottest topic in the country.
It all started after The News published a report claiming that the PTI chairman had married a woman whom he regarded as his faith leader in a secret ceremony on Jan 1.
According to a statement issued by the party on Sunday, Khan had proposed marriage to Bushra Maneka, who has “asked for time to make a final decision after consulting her family, including her children”.
Official Statement issued by Chairman Secretariat. pic.twitter.com/29p2VJu20u
— PTI (@PTIofficial) January 7, 2018
Bushra Maneka, who is in her 40s, is from the influential Wattoo clan, of which the Manekas are a sub-clan. She was married to Khawar Farid Maneka, a senior customs official in Islamabad.
Reports suggest that the PTI chief had first met with Bushra, also known as ‘Pinki’ in the area, shortly before the 2015 by-election in Lodhran for the NA-154 seat.
Bushra has already formally separated from her former husband, son of former Federal Minister Ghulam Farid Maneka. She has five children from Mr Maneka – two sons and three daughters.
Bushra’s two sons – Ibrahim and Musa – are graduates of Lahore’s Aitchison College, the alma mater of Imran Khan, and are currently studying abroad.
Bushra’s eldest daughter, Mehru, is the daughter-in-law of Punjab MPA Mian Atta Muhammad Maneka.
Her former husband has previously served as the assistant collector, deputy collector and additional collector in different parts of Pakistan and Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi last month approved his promotion in BPS-21.
Both Maneka and Bushra are from southern Punjab.
Khan’s party says that if Bushra and her family would accept the proposal then Imran will announce it himself. Until then it has been requested that the media should respect his privacy.
The PTI chief was married twice but none of his marriages worked. He married Jemima Goldsmith, a British national, in 1995 and ended his relationship with her in 2004.
He then married Reham Khan in 2015 but the relationship ended within just 10 months.
