ISLAMAQBAD: Yet another white lie of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan — that Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s allegations were the reason for his divorce — was exposed by none other than his own ex-wife Jemima Khan who in an interview with the British Vanity Fair magazine had termed the ‘worst health conditions’ as a major problem she was facing in Pakistan along with the political career of her husband, who was available to her on phone only after 2am.
Importantly, when the PTI chief divorced Jemima in the middle of the previous decade, Nawaz Sharif was living an exiled life in Jeddah and had not made any political statement for years, what to talk of any about Imran Khan or his wife which could have brought an end to the former cricketer’s marriage.
Jemima told the magazine that she and her two children frequently suffered from stomach complaints while her husband was frequently away from home pursuing his political career. She had disclosed that she and her children suffered from tummy bugs, ‘grimy furniture’ and loadshedding.
Jemima in the interview had made it categorically clear that the “health problems were the most difficult” for her. She had even said that as far as adapting to the culture was concerned, she never had problems with that”. However, Imran Khan again lied on Friday that the reason of his divorce was that Nawaz Sharif and Fazlur Rehman were calling Jemima a Jew.
In her interview, Jemima praised Imran Khan for his passion and also mentioned that he was not interested in her wealth despite facing bad conditions.
Some relevant excerpts from the British magazine interview, which was conducted when their marriage was not yet over, are:
“Former society girl Jemima Khan has told of her ‘difficult’ life as the wife of Pakistani cricket hero Imran. The billionaire’s girl and her two children are frequently ill with stomach complaints while her husband is “practically penniless” and frequently away from home pursuing a political career. Jemima and the couple’s two children - Sulaiman and Kasim - have suffered from tummy bugs in their previous home, which had peeling paint, grimy furniture and power cuts.
“She was whisked away from her life of luxury - which included homes in London, Paris and Mexico - to a more frugal role as an Islamic wife and mother in Pakistan.
“But now she admits: ‘The health problems are the most difficult for me. The fact that I’m sick and the children are sick. But as far as adapting to the culture is concerned I never had problems with that.’
“The family has recently moved from Lahore to the capital Islamabad so Imran, 47, can be closer to the heart of his political dealings.”
Interviewer Leslie Bennetts writes in Vanity Fair that Jemima is at home most evenings while Imran is out pursuing his political career. Bennetts says: “Jemima waits endlessly at home for her elusive husband to return from his rounds of political meetings, hospital-related activities and of course the daily workout at the gym.”
In the interview, Jemima says: “When I’m not here, I never ever get him on the phone before two o’clock in the morning.”
When the whole family are together they all share a bed.
She adds: “There isn’t room for Sulaiman to have his own room and he’s so attached to me he has to go to sleep holding my hair. I have bald patches from him tugging on it.”