MR& MRS KHAN-2 So whats the deal with Imran-and-Reham? KAMRAN REHMAT on the tongue-in-tweet At a time when Pakistan is poised to develop an institutionalized mechanism to counter terrorism, any analytical dip into the second — albeit still unconfirmed — marriage of Imran Khan, the chief of the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) party, would seem trite. But then again, maybe not because it has the potential to create its own ripple effect on the political landscape, and therefore is worthy of a look-into. Amid a strong wave of rumours, denials and more rumours sweeping the land, Khan — who divorced British heiress Jemima Goldsmith a decade ago and has two children who live with her whilst meeting their father a few times a year — hasn’t helped matters with a ‘clarifying’ tweet that has only served to spice up uncertainty like the Carolina Reaper. “The reports of my marriage are greatly exaggerated!” is how Khan, 62, has responded to the alleged wedding to Reham Khan, the presentable 41-year-old divorcee mother of three, who anchors a political talk show — In Focus with Reham Khan — at Dawn News, a private TV channel. The Pakistani and British media which had been flashing reports of the alleged marriage — Khan, of course, was a global celebrity thanks to his prowess as a legendary cricketer and philanthropist well before his political avatar took him to new heights — are unlikely to tamper their coverage with a tweet that is hardly in the straight-and-narrow category of a confirmation or denial. Already the tweet has been deciphered to mean several things to several people with some predictably, suggesting it is derived from adventurer Mark Twain’s famous quote surrounding his fate: “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated”. In this case, it is deemed Khan may have contrived a clever spin to possibly explain it later as having contracted a simple marriage, but one that had been greatly exaggerated! A possible give-away could be that the PTI chief has flown out to England to meet his sons and take them into confidence — if reports are to be believed. This follows a reported statement attributed to Khan in which he was quoted as suggesting that second marriages require careful consideration “because children are involved”. In the same statement, Khan cites publicly mentioning the idea of remarriage before pointing out there would be an appropriate time for doing so, not when there is national mourning over the massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar that has shaken the whole the country. It is a measure of how seriously the idea of Khan’s remarriage is treated on a national scale that his sister Aleema Khan despite denying it had taken place — citing her own straightforward talk with his brother — admitted to confusion when asked if her brother had had an affair with the former BBC weather girl since, according to Aleema in Pakistan, “either you are getting married or you’re not”. Aleema however, appeared to leave no-one in any doubt about the family’s disapproval of the alleged affair when she said they had themselves been looking for her brother “to settle down” with “a good person”, implying that’s not the impression they have of Reham. Reham has maintained a dignified silence after initially, denying the rumours. This has not stopped people from subjecting her to some of the vilest abuse on the social media with a decidedly political colour to it. The PTI chief caused much mirth when during the initial phase of the 126-day protest demonstration outside the Pakistani parliament in the capital Islamabad, he told his supporters that he was in a hurry to create “Naya Pakistan” (New Pakistan) so that he could remarry. He later played down the remark as a joke, saying he could not even conceive of the idea at what was a crucial juncture for his party. But Khan has previously climbed down from such lofty perches and it wouldn’t be an out-and-out surprise if he were to either declare a new innings or simply bide time. A confidante or two have been swearing that he has indeed tied the knot, but has had to cover bases because of the entire national focus on taking the fight to the militants with a calibrated strategy centred around setting up — and giving legal cover to — military courts. However, on the lighter side, legions of PTI supporters and some enterprising members of the press are keen to see the PTI chief break the news either way. There is a general impression that Khan needs to have stability in his personal life, the lack of which, it is assumed is impacting his public life, where he suddenly takes extreme positions that are often untenable. As perhaps the country’s most popular politician with the potential to win power down the road, peace at home is thus seen as a ‘political need’, too. #ImranKhan #RehamKhan #TongueInTweet #YeShaadiNahiHoSakti? #NayaPakistan #Remarriage #JemimaGoldsmith #PTIChief #AleemaKhan #MarkTwain
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 21:59:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015