Daily Times

Reham Khan has been a victim of many allegations in the recent past, maybe rightfully so. This year, she has undertaken the most controversial venture by releasing her first self-titled book in which she chronicles her life with Imran Khan. Daily Times spoke to her candidly about the new manuscript and she sure had a lot to say. Let us hear it all from Reham herself.

What do you hope to establish in Pakistan with your new book?

The first thing I want to establish with this book in Pakistan, but anyone reading it around the world is courage. The courage to stand up for what you believe in, the courage to speak up and be honest. I advocate honesty as a parent because I feel that children are expected to do the same if parents are honest with them.

I practice what I preach and I am very happy with the results. I talk about walking away from situations that trap you because you feel that people will think less of you if you take a stand. I speak from a personal point of view because I have been afraid of what people will say in different stages of my life through my first marriage and divorce and then my second marriage and divorce. People say that I am brave but I have made an effort to be brave.

Many Pakistanis believe that your manuscript is a personal vendetta against PTI and Imran Khan. How would you respond?

A lot of criticism has been thrown my way that I want to destroy someone’s politics and my ex because I am bitter and vengeful. It is not so much about him; it is about everyone because Imran is a creation of our society and he wasn’t born with those problems. It is the nurture, the voices in his ear, the people he has associated himself with, the society and his influence as a young celebrity.

The way we treat our boys, our men and the things we say to them shape their thinking and behaviour. If Imran eventually comes into the public’s eye and becomes an inspiring leader, then of course, some influences that have molded his personality will have a direct impact on the lives of millions of people. Clearly, that has severe repercussions.

In my book, I do not talk about destruction, I talk about correction. I talk about how we can correct this problem so we do not repeat this mistake with our men and our boys in Pakistan. I did not know any better when I voted for Imran in 2013. There is a propaganda machinery and we have crowd behaviour as well. It is not just Imran but the people who go out and vote. We don’t think about the person we are voting for.

We do it everywhere. We do it in England and in Pakistan. We have a selected category of people who contest for politics but the good and capable lot in Pakistan are either not supported or have no courage. They believe that Imran or Reham should be in politics but they never imagine themselves as the leader. They think they have no backing or money.

However, one of many positive things observed in these bleak days leading up to the elections are people like Jibran Nasir and Mohsin Dawar, who are not celebrities or rich kids. They are actually contesting. Even if they lose, it will be an important change in our history because they will lose with integrity.

You mention reputed personalities in your book; Waseem Akram for instance. Was it necessary to throw them all under the bus along with Imran Khan or did you find it necessary to prove a point?

I have mentioned celebrities because I am a huge fan of Waseem Akram’s cricketing career. I don’t know whether I have thrown him under the bus. I think you have been reading Hamza Ali Abbasi’s book, not mine. You will find no mention of Hamza in my book. If he wants to make himself relevant or famous, I don’t wish to comment or dwell on that.

I have mentioned Waseem Akram because he was very fond of Imran and Imran seemed to be very fond of him. I couldn’t really praise anyone else in front of Imran because he felt insecure. So, that is the mention if anyone has a problem with it. I don’tcare what other people do in their own life. I wasn’t married to them or have to put up with them, so why should I care? My concern was Imran and I think it has been taken out of context. I have only said what Imran has told me about other people.

The timing of your book release is coinciding with the elections. It naturally leads most Pakistanis to believe that you did it on purpose to affect PTI and its voters. Do you acknowledge this?

I wrote the book because many people were writing about me, particularly in print interviews. People would misinterpret what I was saying. If I were to say we don’t wear wedding bands because we are Muslims, I would read the headline,‘Oh, she says Imran did not give her a wedding band.’

Reham says she is advocating a tolerable, open and honest society. “Our political leaders need to walk the talk”

I was frustrated with the fact that people were constantly misinterpreting and misrepresenting information. I just wanted to say it in my words with this book. I hope that people will understand. Maybe they won’t understand today but I hope in the next five to twenty years, you will know that what I was saying was in fact, the truth.

Some of the criticism that has come out is regarding pornographic content in the book. People say it is inappropriate for this stuff to come out from a woman; it is not modest and does not suit our culture. Well, I question the misogyny of it all! Why is it inappropriate for a woman to write racy stuff? My book is not pornographic! I am talking about the things I saw because I was shocked myself. I knew it was immoral.

It is not even about a personal relationship. It is written in the context of how difficult it is to get help for a celebrity. I warned my son to respect women and to have a monogamous relationship. Certainly, Imran Khan’s actions have a wider bearing. If Imran is using religion to get voters and mixing religion with politics, then I am sorry, he cannot be hypocritical!

He is using the very dangerous blasphemy card against his political opponents because he has nothing to stand on. How can he do that? It is because Imran is a hypocrite.

I am advocating a tolerable, open and honest society. Our political leaders need to walk the talk. I discuss things because people have done something immoral or illegal. Who decides that it is inappropriate for a woman to speak? I will not be dictated by a society that tells a woman to shut up! If that is the culture, it has to change. Even if I would want to write 50 Shades of Grey, no one can say that I shouldn’t.

How have Pakistanis responded to your newbook?

Pakistanis who are book readers and who have read it with an unbiased point of view have given very good reviews. There haven’t been mixed reviews as the book immediately shot to number one as the Kindle edition. It debuted on number one in Canada and India within 12 hours of its release. We have received five stars and have not done any publicity or spent a penny on the book’s advertising. As you know, we haven’t officially launched the book. It is a soft release. The Kindle version came out first and people have been very keen to read it. I have had some very encouraging things said about the book as well. Many people read the Kindle edition and wanted to purchase a hard copy as well.

My book has being maligned right, left and center and I was being vilified. So, I thought of releasing the manuscript. The purpose of the book was to document history and there has been backlash from PTI and its paid supporters. There are many ideological supporters of the party, and they have confirmed the stories that I have put in. PTI knows very well that everything I have written is the truth.

What is your view on Nawaz Sharif’s sentence? Has PTI played a crucial role in restoring political justice?

Nawaz Sharif’s sentence is not based on corruption; it is done on a technicality. The Sharif dynasty had to be interrupted. The main reason was to make sure Maryam Nawaz did not come into power. It was an effort to derail their dynastic ambitions and their dominance in politics as a family. The Sharif surname was an issue, I don’t think corruption was theproblem.

It is very clear that there wasn’t any evidence to pin them down. It hashad an unintended result thatbuilds up Maryam Nawaz as a very strong and important leader in our political landscape. Perhaps it was not the plan but that is what happened. If the planners wanted to get rid of Sharif, they have not been able to. They have only cemented their position. Imran was very popular back in 2013 and his popularity has dipped because he has exposed himself. Now, people see Nawaz Sharif as the hero; the one with courage and leadership qualities. The opponents had a role to play in building Maryam’s image.

I don’t think Imran has restored political justice at all; he has only exposed himself for being a puppet. The credit is not Imran’s. Yes, he wanted to get rid of the Sharifs but not for corruption. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be corrupt individuals, serial rapists, people with criminal records, extremist tilts and all sorts of political filth and trash that Imran would have incorporated in his party. Many others including myself don’t buy that.

What will be the election turnout this year?

The election turnout is concerning to me. I feel very depressed about the elections. We know that there is apropaganda machine working overtime. There is only one horse in the race and that horse is limping away because Imran’s party is playing very badly. Their performance is dismal and they are extremely disorganized. They can’t even get a jalsa together. Look what they have done with the handling of my book. They have displayed complete buffoonery in it.

Because of this, they are not very good at politics. They have not displayed an ideology or concept that would be inspiring to vote for them. They have no ground understanding of politics. They cannot even manage the polling station. This says a lot about them. Their mathematics is entirely wrong in central Punjab and they are using extremist elements. PTIhas tried to damage PML-N and it has divided their own votes in central Punjab; Bahawalpur and Multan look shaky to me.

PTI candidates who were not given the ticket had no choice exceptto stand as independents or join Tehreek e Labaik. Nonetheless, this will negatively affect PTI, not PML-N. The election turnout will be poor purely because voters think that PML-N has no say and there is a chance of rigging. PPP membersBilawal Bhutto and MaulanaFazl-ur-Rehmanare on high risk because of ISIS targeting. I feel that people are depressed. Even I don’t feel like voting. If you have not done anything and you give people a walk over, you have only yourself to blame.

You recently stated quote ‘I am not Jemimah and I am proud of it.’ What made you say such a thing?

I said that I am not her because I am not like any other woman. It is quite clear that I am not like Jemimah; I am not Jewish, I am not an heiress of a banking dynasty or a foreigner. I am a Pakistani woman who belongs to a Sunni family. I am deeply rooted in my heritage. It is not imposed on me and I am very proud of it.

I am a self-made woman. I have never touched my father’s money. I have worked very hard to raise my children on my own money. I could have used my father’s inheritance or another man to support myself but I chose not to. Everyone has their own lifestyle and their own story. I don’t know Jemimah personally and I am certainly not like her.

Will you be joining politics?

I am political because I have political views. I advocate people who are vocal, particularly women because I have spent my whole life being told not to speak. I believe that I have a voice that God has given me. If my creator has decided that I have a voice, who is anyone to say that I shouldn’t speak?

Published in Daily Times, July 22^nd 2018.