Daily Times

Jemima Goldsmith, former wife of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, Wednesday warned of filing a defamation suit against Reham Khan if her “libellous” book was published in the United Kingdom (UK).

In a tweet, Jemima said that though she had been “assured” that Reham’s book was too “libellous” to be published in the UK, she would sue on behalf of her son for defamation and breach of privacy if it did see the light of day.

“I will be suing for defamation and breach of privacy on behalf of my (then) 16-year-old son and in relation to the moronic, re-hashed Zionist conspiracy theories,” Jemima added.

Prior to its publication, Reham’s autobiography became a source of controversy last week after actor Hamza Ali Abbasi claimed to have read a manuscript of the book and accused her of being on a “PML-N agenda”. The accusation was followed by a Twitter spat between Reham and Hamza, in which the former alleged that the latter had been threatening her since last year.

It has caused a furore among the PTI ranks, with Abbasi releasing screenshots of emails and issuing a statement last week to claim it has “documentary evidence” that the author was in contact with PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal and the book was being published to damage the PTI.

In response to the allegation, Iqbal described the emails as “fabricated and distorted” and termed the act “shameful”. He also denied meeting Reham after her marriage with PTI chief.

PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry, in a presser on Tuesday, claimed that the contents of Reham’s upcoming book were “pornographic” and against “family values”. He also questioned the timing of its release.

Meanwhile, a businessman and friend of the PTI chief, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, former fast bowler Wasim Akram, PTI foreign media head Anila Khawaja and Reham’s ex-husband have also sent legal notices to her for maligning them in her unpublished manuscript. Reham, on the other hand, has refused to confirm or deny the contents of her book.

Published in Daily Times, June 7^th 2018.