The former playboy cricketer, who could become the next prime minister of Pakistan, says he married his third wife Bushra without even seeing her face
Just days before Pakistan elections which could catapult him to the Prime Minister’s chair, cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan says his biggest mistake in life was to marry his second wife Reham Khan.
Imran Khan, 65, married Reham Khan, 45, in 2015 and divorced her after 10 months.
A former BBC weather presenter, Reham Khan has just come out with her memoirs in which she accuses Imran of adultery, bisexuality, drug abuse, and fathering five children out of wedlock.
“Normally I don’t say anything about Reham, but I will say this: I’ve made some mistakes in my life, but my second marriage has to be the biggest,’’ Imran Khan tells Daily Mail in an interview.
About his second wife Jemima whom he married in 1995 and divorced in 2004, Imran says he is good friends with her.
He showers effusive praise on his third and current wife Bushra Maneka whom he married earlier this year.
The former playboy says he is `happily married’ to Bushra who is also his spiritual mentor.
A revered sufi pir or spiritual master, Bushra is a divorcee and mother of five children.
Critics have dubbed his union with Bushra as a marriage of convenience because she has a considerable following as the leader of Baba Farid’s shrine in Pakpattan.
Imran denies it, saying that he was drawn to his third wife because of his interest in Sufism.
“My interest in Sufism started 30 years ago. It changed my life. Sufism is an order with many levels, but I have never met anyone who is as high as my wife. My interest in her began with that,’’ says Imran.
Though he had been visiting Bushra secretly for the past few years for spiritual and political guidance, Imran says he saw his new wife’s face only after marrying her.
“I did not catch a glimpse of my wife’s face until after we were married. I proposed to her without seeing her because she had never met me without her face being covered with a full veil,” says Imran.
“The only idea I had of what she looked like came from an old photograph I had seen in her house.’’
He admits that when he was at his prime in the 80s, it would “have been unthinkable if someone had told me I would marry someone whose face I hadn’t seen. I would have thought they were mad.’’
Imran says if he becomes prime minister of Pakistan after the July 26 elections, he says his wife won’t attend official functions.
“She meets very few people, but it suits me fine. I am past the age of socialising. I am quite happy with this life,’’ he says.
The former playboy and socialite says he has realised that there’s more to a person than “physical attraction.”
“I have gradually realised that although I know more about physical attraction than anyone else, actually the character of a person and the mind, the intellect, is much more important than the physical, because in my experience that has the smallest shelf life.
“That is what keeps the interest. I have great respect for my wife’s intellect and character.”
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