Another day, another conviction
Third consecutive conviction for former prime minister Imran Khan in a week’s time points at a plan to exterminate him politically. A Rawalpindi Court on Saturday sentenced Khan and wife Bushra Bibi to seven years each.
The verdict in the Iddat case, pertaining to the solemnisation of Nikah during the mandatory pause period, has left many wondering over its substance and veracity. While morals are supposed to count in private lives, highlighting it in public and prosecuting it at the judicial level is a first of its kind litigation. It surely reflects political vendetta at work and has left a bad taste for societal ethics. The testimony of Khawar Maneka, the ex-husband of Bushra Bibi, against his divorced spouse has not gone down well in social circles, and raised many eyebrows questioning his sagacity and compulsion. Likewise, the extensive hearings late in night hours, and once again the denial of proper trial to the accused by denying them their lawful opportunity to present witnesses and cross-examine them, is an unproductive exercise and comes as a blot for the independence of judiciary.
With this sentence, the PTI chief will be serving three convictions side by side, until set aside by the superior courts. So is the case with Bushra Bibi who has been imprisoned on two counts. The partiality behind the retribution is up for a debate, as none have ever been booked on such slandering cases in personal life. The point that Bushra Bibi declared the divorce certificate of November 14, 2017, as fabricated, claiming she completed her mandatory Iddat from April to August 2017, thickens the plot. Moreover, Maneka’s accusations were found to be in contravention of his earlier interviews in public, swearing high character of his divorced wife. Notwithstanding the merit of cases that the PTI chairman is facing, this Iddat case, at least, confirms some serious witch-hunting by his opponents, and that too below the belt. This character assassination stunt is unlikely to deter his popularity among his electorates.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 4th, 2024.
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