Meet Imran Khan, the playboy-turned-prime minister who’s now behind bars

Khan based Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996 and was elected prime minister in 2018. His downfall got here in 2022 when he was ousted in a no-confidence vote by his political opponents – the primary for a Pakistan prime minister. He was barred from working for workplace for 5 years in 2023, and has been jailed in circumstances regarding leaking state secrets and techniques, violating marriage legal guidelines, unlawfully shopping for and promoting items and extra. His supporters, nevertheless, slammed the circumstances as being politically motivated.

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Imran Khan, the Oxford-educated “playboy”

The son of a civil engineer, Khan grew up in Lahore. He studied on the College of Oxford, the place he graduated with a level in economics, politics and philosophy. In 1992, he led Pakistan’s nationwide cricket group to a world victory as its captain.

As his profession developed, so too did his fame as a playboy, and he was usually noticed at nightclubs. However it was his marriage to British heiress Jemima Goldsmith in 1995 that basically elevated his standing, in addition to his success on the cricket pitch.

In 2018, greater than twenty years after he began his political get together Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Khan noticed his political star rise. He turned his playboy picture round, presenting himself as a spiritual determine and introducing welfare programmes.

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In August 2018, he was sworn in as prime minister of Pakistan and instantly made public bulletins to cease a “lavish” life. Per Hindustan Occasions, he stated the official residence of the prime minister could be transformed to a public house. “I’ll stay humbly. To this point we now have seen that everybody who involves energy adjustments. That won’t occur with me.”

How Imran Khan turned a cricket legend

Khan’s expertise for cricket first emerged throughout his youth in Lahore and England, and he was the captain of the Oxford cricket group in 1974.

Per ESPN, Khan will be credited for serving to to popularise cricket in Pakistan, inspiring many throughout the nation to repeat his “run”, leap and reverse swinging yorker.

His means as an all-rounder on the sector and his management acumen have resulted in him being some of the expert cricket gamers of all time. ESPN cites him because the best cricketer Pakistan has ever produced. However after the World Cup win in 1992, he retired from cricketing and as a substitute targeted on philanthropic efforts.

Imran Khan’s three wives

Khan has been married thrice, along with his newest being to Bushra Maneka, now generally known as Bushra Bibi, in 2018. Bibi is called a mysterious religion healer whose visage is usually hid beneath a veil. In an interview with Mail on Sunday, Khan stated he “didn’t catch a glimpse of my spouse’s face till after we had been married”. Per BBC, his spouse has a small following for her function as a “non secular adviser”.

Per BBC, the union with Bibi got here after they met at a thirteenth century Sufi shrine. Bibi was rumoured to have had a dream that Khan would turn out to be prime minister in the event that they acquired married. Six months after they tied the knot in a easy ceremony, he certainly turned prime minister. Bibi denied this story in a TV interview, however stated Pakistan would enhance beneath Khan’s rule.

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In February, a courtroom gave the couple a seven-year jail sentence as their marriage was deemed to violate Islamic regulation. Per Al Jazeera, Bibi’s ex-husband Khawar claimed his spouse didn’t observe the required three-month break between marriages. Bibi and Khan had been earlier sentenced to 14 years in jail and a hefty high quality in a case associated to illegally shopping for and promoting items they acquired when Khan was prime minister.

However earlier than Bibi was Reham Khan. Imran was married to her in 2015 for just below a yr and the romance resulted in Reham publishing a self-titled memoir about her marriage to Imran stuffed with salacious particulars. Imran has reportedly known as his marriage to Reham his “greatest mistake”.

A few of her e book’s claims embody Imran having illegitimate youngsters, that he borrowed cash for greens, and that he’s bisexual, per British media. Imran’s supporters accused the previous BBC weathergirl of releasing the e book to affect his political ambitions. The e book was revealed shortly earlier than the 2018 Pakistan basic elections.

Khan’s first marriage was to British socialite Jemima Goldsmith. On the time, he was 43 and she or he was 21. The heiress met Khan at Annabel’s, a preferred London nightclub for whom Goldsmith’s mom was named, per The Observer.

In response to The Guardian, the couple had two youngsters collectively and remained on good phrases after they break up. They had been married in 1995 and separated in 2004, making it Khan’s longest marriage up to now. Talking concerning the relationship, Goldsmith stated her marriage to Khan was the primary in his household that was not organized. She even transformed to Islam and moved to Lahore to be with him.

Goldsmith has moved on to a profession of screenwriting and producing documentaries. She wrote and produced What’s Love Bought to Do with It? (2022) starring Lily James.

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So what about Khan’s many authorized circumstances?

Pakistan’s former prime minister and his spouse had been accused of unlawfully shopping for and promoting items stored inside a toshakhana – a treasure home, which can be a government-owned division. Per Al Jazeera, this department shops items offered to authorities officers. At the least 108 objects had been listed to have been misappropriated by Khan and Bibi. These embody dinner units, cufflinks, diamonds and perfumes.

In response to the identical publication, officers are allowed to purchase these items to take into their very own possession, however don’t normally resell them. Legally, in the event that they are resold, the earnings must be declared. Nevertheless, the persecution acknowledged that Khan didn’t appropriately disclose his earnings gleaned from reselling the items.

Bibi was additionally implicated, as recordings confirmed her promoting some items. The couple had been sentenced to 14 years in jail and fined US$2.8 million.

In January this yr, Khan and a celebration deputy had been sentenced to 10 years for “revealing official state secrets and techniques”. Per Time, Khan allegedly waved a confidential doc throughout a rally. Violent protests erupted in 2023 after Khan’s arrest.