Breakup of the year: Imran, Reham forfeit marriage

Couple agrees to separate by ‘mutual consent’

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and his wife Reham Khan have filed for divorce after a 10-month-long marriage.

“We have decided to part ways and file for divorce,” Reham Khan stated in a brief statement on her Twitter account on Friday. Half an hour later, Imran confirmed the move in a tweet of his own, saying that this was a “painful time for me and Reham and our families.”

“I have the greatest respect for Reham’s moral character and her passion to work for and help the underprivileged.”

The announcements came after a statement from PTI’s central information secretary Naeemul Haque that read, ”PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Reham Khan have decided to divorce by mutual consent.”

While reasons surrounding their decision to separate were not immediately clear or any information about any pre-nuptial agreements, Imran refuted speculations about a financial settlement.

However, Friday’s announcement was not entirely a shock since it came a month after Imran had refuted a television report about his marriage collapsing.

“I am shocked at a TV channel making a slanderous statement about my marriage. I strongly urge the media to desist from such baseless statements,” the PTI chief had said on Twitter.

Meanwhile, party leaders have stressed that this would not affect their chances in the local government polls – the first phase of which commences on Saturday.



Wedding of the year

Imran had married Reham, 20 years his junior, in a simple ceremony in January this year. However, Imran’s followers and well-wishers celebrated the wedding far and wide.

The PTI chief had previously been married to British socialite Jemima Goldsmith, with whom he had two children. Their 10-year long marriage ended in 2004 allegedly over difficulties Jemima faced in Pakistan, where she was hounded for her family’s Jewish ancestry, and Imran’s obsession with politics.

However, Jemima and Imran continued to remain in contact even after their divorce.

Almost 10-years after his divorce from Jemima, Imran announced plans of giving marriage another go. In late 2014, at the height of his four-month long protests in front of the parliament house against rigging in the general elections, the former cricketing great announced that he wished to marry again. The announcement was received with a roar of approval by his supporters but also widespread confusion – primarily on who the intended bride-to-be was.

But when a British tabloid reported a few months later that Imran had secretly tied the knot, the PTI chief initially rubbished the suggestion as “greatly exaggerated”. Shortly thereafter, in early January, said, “I am going to Pakistan to share good news about my marriage with the nation. I have nothing to hide.”

On January 8, 2015, Imran and Reham wed at the former’s sprawling Bani Gala residence in Islamabad.



Controversies

Their short marriage was afflicted with controversies at every corner.

Reham, a 42-year-old television presenter, was no stranger to the limelight. However, as soon as her marriage with the Kaptaan was formally publicised, the spotlight was cranked up to a whole new level.

Every aspect of her past came under scrutiny: from her first marriage -- when she had three children, to her television career on the BBC where her choice of clothing was minutely scrutinised with conservatives deeming her far too western by Pakistani standards. Even the dissolution of her first marriage became a subject of debate.

Things compounded a few months after their marriage. It was discovered that Reham had not attended the Lincolnshire College as she had claimed on her personal website. She said she studied journalism at ‘North Lindsay College’ in Scunthorpe. But the college confirmed that it had never taught journalism and had no record of her being a student. While Imran insisted that his wife will have no political role, Reham began to increasingly feature at PTI’s events and became their face for some by-election campaigns. It forced the PTI chief to come out and defend allegations of dynastic politics -- a refrain he had often attacked his political opponents with.

Finally, the PTI chief had to publicly announce that his wife will not appear in party events.

Around this time a local television channel in September reported that their marriage was on the rocks. Imran denied the assertion.


Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2015.