Daily Times

Bad luck comes in big bundles. Having received his third sentence within a week, PTI Founder Imran Khan seems determined to set a world record. In the light of a complaint filed by Khawar Fareed Maneka, Islamabad Court has found his marriage with former first lady Bushra Bibi in violation of Pakistan Penal Code Section 496, handing them a sentence of seven years on top of a fine of Rs 500,000 each. That the entire judicial machinery has decided to handle all his cases with the speed of light just before the country heads to general polls is too much of a coincidence to believe. But the implications of this sordid tale cannot be restricted to the political chessboard.

The purpose of the Iddat case might have been to prove Mr Khan as a morally corrupt person. But the naked vileness with which Mr Maneka acted throughout the saga would go down in history as an unprecedented act. There’s little that’s hidden about his iron-clad grip on key affairs during PTI’s tenure. Why is it that he deemed it fit to splash muddy waters on the couple after he had had his way through VIP protocols, alleged kickbacks and a taste of power?

Once the dust has settled, the higher judiciary would be forced to take a deep look within and be prepared for a long list of uncomfortable questions. Between the bench’s failure to guarantee the accused’s right to dignity, satisfy the treatment of the said irregularity in accordance with Sunni Shariah and legal precedent and dragging something as personal as a woman’s menstrual cycle through the mire, a lot still needs to be held accountable.

Mr Khan’s close aide Zulfi Bukhari hit the bull’s eye when he wondered, “Is this all that’s left in the country and courts or systems to do? Pakistan has stooped to a level where the whole politics is now about someone’s marriage or divorce?”

Most tragic of all remains the stigma about to be slammed on those women who dare to remarry in our patriarchal society. Every single woman would think a thousand times before making such a decision out of fear of infamy. *