'Iddat' case: Imran Khan and wife Bushra get seven years in jail for 'non-Islamic Nikah'
A court convicted former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, 71, and his wife Bushra Bibi, 49, and also imposed fines of Rs 5,00,000 each on the couple at the Adiala Jail premises in Rawalpindi.
Islamabad: Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were sentenced to seven years in prison by a Rawalpindi court on Saturday after being convicted of “un-Islamic” marriages in what has been dubbed the “Iddat case”.
Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah convicted Imran Khan, 71, and his Bushra Bibi, 49, and also imposed fines of Rs 5,00,000 each on the couple at the Adiala Jail premises in Rawalpindi.
That's the case
Bushra's first husband, Khawar Maneka, had filed a case against his ex-wife, alleging that she had violated Islamic law by not observing the mandatory break or 'Iddat' between two marriages. The case was dubbed the “Iddat case” by the Pakistani media.
Maneka also accused his ex-wife and Khan, the founder of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party, of engaging in an adulterous relationship before marriage, a crime punishable by death by stoning.
PTI will challenge Khan's conviction
Meanwhile, Khan's PTI party said they will challenge the conviction and sentence of the ex-Pak prime minister and his wife in the Supreme Court. A PTI spokesperson claimed that the voters will take “revenge” for the injustice done to Khan on February 8.
This is Khan's fourth conviction since 2022 and adds to the beleaguered cricketer-turned-politician's troubles ahead of the country's February 8 general elections.
Ahead of next week's polls, PTI was stripped of its iconic cricket bat election symbol, the nomination papers of Khan and party colleagues were rejected and at least one of his party leaders was killed in the election violence.
On Saturday, after his conviction in what has become known as the Iddat case, Khan told court reporters that the case against him was designed to “humiliate and disgrace” both him and his wife, Bushra Bibi.
Tactics to keep PTI out of the polls
Khan said he has not accepted, nor would accept in the future, any deals with the powers that be. He said he would “choose death over making a deal with anyone.”
In a brief conversation with court reporters, he said: “The top leadership of our party was targeted immediately after the announcement of the election manifesto. Now election candidates are not even allowed to campaign.”
Shortly after the verdict, top PTI leader Gohar Khan said Justice Qudratullah had not delivered the written verdict, which “once pronounced would be challenged in the Supreme Court.”
“This is yet another attempt to keep the party out of the elections,” he said.
'Voters will take revenge'
A post on the party's official handle stated that Gohar Khan spoke to the media and said: “Imran Khan's message to the nation: If I have to stay here for a thousand years, I will stay, I will not make any deal under any circumstances . – The nation should come out on February 8 and pay its dues. No exit from stations.”
PTI's official X-handle also posted an extensive response almost immediately after the verdict was announced. “The people will take revenge for every injustice done to the brave leader of the nation and every injustice done to him on February 8,” the X-post said, quoting the PTI spokesperson.
The post on the PTI
It also accused Judge Qudratullah, claiming that state interference in matters such as marriage and divorce was “evidence of vagrancy.”
Political revenge
The party also alleged that “after frivolous cases like Cipher and the Toshakhana, by ruling on the Iddat matrimonial case, he (the judge) tried to advance a nefarious agenda of political revenge.”
The party also launched a social media campaign with a hashtag in Urdu, similar to #People_will_make_the_decision_now, calling on people to vote on February 8.
However, there was only a very small, cryptic message on Khan's own official X-handle. Judging from the previous examples, it is believed that his family is posting on his behalf.
Attached to a 2:45 minute video praising Khan's humanitarian works and how he refused to bow down to anyone other than Allah, the message, as translated, read: 'What could be a greater injustice than that of the one who gave his entire life energy for his life?' land was imprisoned for the crime of his righteousness. You must all take this by February 8, 2024.”
(With PTI inputs)