Aides say Imran trusts Bushra, not ‘compromised’ leaders

LONDON: Two close aides of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi have said that the imprisoned former prime minister doesn’t trust senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leadership for diluting and manipulating his instructions and that’s the reason he decided to field his third wife to convey the true message of Khan to the masses in true letter and spirit.

Bushra Bibi’s spokesperson and aide Mashal Yousafzai and the former first lady’s sister Maryam Riaz Wattoo spoke to The Guardian about Bushra Bibi’s role, the controversy surrounding her participation in the ‘Final Call’ protest and its outcome. Both of them said Bushra Bibi was acting on Khan’s instructions and acting only for his interest.

“Khan has been very frustrated in prison as he feels his instructions are not reaching the grassroots and instead they are being blocked or manipulated by senior leadership in the party,” said Mashal Yousafzai.

Mashal Yousafzai, who was sacked from her role in the KP govt by Ali Amin Gandapur three days ago over an interview, told the paper: “So Khan has told Bibi she needs to be his direct messenger. She doesn’t have any political experience so he has given her precise instructions, from A to Z, on everything that needs to be done with the party workers and the leadership, to demand his release from jail. It’s all very clear cut.”

Yousafzai said it was Khan who had told Bibi to convey to his supporters that last week’s “Final Call” protest was a “do or die situation”, and that people needed to reach Islamabad and demand his release “by hook or by crook”. “Bibi has no political ambitions of her own, she is a very quiet spiritual person,” Yousafzai added. “She is just acting as a bridge between Khan and the people.”

Bushra Bibi’s Dubai based sister Maryam Riaz Wattoo told the paper. “The actions of Khan’s close aides are suspicious and it seems they are playing both sides for their own benefit. They put so much pressure on Bibi not to take the protest to the heart of Islamabad but she went ahead as Khan had suggested. She won’t give up until Khan is released.”

It was Maryam Wattoo who first introduced Khan and Bibi in 2015. They married in 2018 after divorcing her husband.Wattoo said Bibi was deeply religious and had been “completely misrepresented by media propaganda”.

The paper wrote about Bushra Bibi’s powerful role and her personality. It said Bushra Bibi, Khan’s third wife, had always been deemed an apolitical and somewhat mysterious spiritual figure. Her marriage to Khan had generated wild gossip for years, but she kept herself largely shielded from the public gaze – even as she found herself jailed alongside her husband in January.

Several senior PTI leaders believe Bushra Bibi has so far acted only on Khan’s instructions and an element within the party doesn’t like her and campaigning against her. It’s because Khan reportedly fears his own senior leadership in the party has been “compromised” and is working against him while he sits powerless behind bars.

The former prime minister has been in jail for more than 500 days, facing more than 100 charges that he alleges are trumped up by his opponents. The Guardian wrote that some figures in PTI have privately expressed concern at Bibi’s sudden prominence but Khan himself was said to be pleased. Speaking to his lawyer Faisal Fareed from jail as it was conveyed that Bibi was marching with crowds from the city of Peshawar, Khan reportedly broke out into a smile. “She’s an intelligent woman,” Imran Khan said.