As huge crowds gathered in Pakistan's capital to demand the release of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, an unlikely figure took the lead in the protests.
Khan's third wife, Bushra Bibi, was always considered an apolitical and somewhat mysterious spiritual figure. Her marriage to Khan generated intense gossip for years, but she largely kept herself out of the public eye even when it was revealed in January that she had been jailed alongside her husband.
But last week, when tens of thousands of his supporters defied government orders and marched toward Islamabad in the face of riot police, tear gas and a barrage of rubber bullets, Bibi, fresh from prison, was in the lead. I was standing there.
Bibi, wearing a niqab veil, spoke to supporters of Khan while standing on top of a shipping container, one of many set up by police to block the road to Islamabad. , gave a speech encouraging them to continue marching towards the political center of Islamabad. She said she would not leave until Khan was released.
Protests turned bloody on Tuesday night, with the army and paramilitary forces accused of opening fire to force supporters of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party out of the capital.
PTI alleges a “massacre” in which more than a dozen people were killed and hundreds injured, but the Pakistani government denies there were any deaths and says Bibi was “solely responsible” for the violence. claims. The real numbers remain unconfirmed.
Mr Bibi's sudden emergence as a political leader has surprised many and is said to have caused a rift with Mr Khan's party.
She was released on bail in October after a period in solitary confinement, but people close to her say she is working directly on Mr. Khan's orders. Mr. Khan reportedly feared that he was being “harmed” by the party's senior leadership and that it was working against him while he sat helpless in prison. It is said that there is
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The former prime minister has been in jail for more than 500 days on more than 100 charges that he says were trumped up by political opponents and the powerful military. Mashal Yousafzai, a close aide to Mr Bibi, said: “Mr Khan is very dissatisfied in prison. His instructions are not reaching the grassroots, but are instead blocked and manipulated by party leaders. That's because I feel that way.”
“So Khan told Bibi that she needed to be a direct messenger. She had no political experience and was in no position to do everything she needed to do to party officials and leadership to demand her release. I gave her precise instructions from beginning to end. It's all very clear.”
Yousafzai told supporters that this week's protests were a “do-or-die situation” and that people would have to arrive in Islamabad and demand their release “through scammers or swindlers.” He said it was Mr Khan who informed Mr Bibi. “Bibi has no political ambitions of her own and is a very quiet and spiritual person,” Yousafzai added. “She's just acting as a bridge between Khan and the people.”
This view was echoed by Bibi's sister, Maryam Riaz Wattoo. “The actions of Mr. Khan's close aides are questionable. They seem to be playing both sides for their own benefit,” Wattoo said. “They put a lot of pressure on Bibi not to take the protests to the heart of Islamabad, but she took action as suggested by Khan. She will not give up until Khan is released. .”
Wattoo was the first to introduce Khan and Bibi in 2015. Bibi was known as a faith healer and expert on Sufi teachings, and Khan, who was struggling with his remarriage, began to consult her for spiritual matters and eventually became heavily dependent on her. . under her guidance. She married Khan in 2018 after divorcing her husband.
The decision is said to cause great discomfort in Islamabad's corridors of power, with powerful military commanders said to have tried to block the marriage. Khan later said he did not see Bibi's face exposed until after the wedding.
Khan's marriage to Bibi coincided with her fervent religious leanings, in sharp contrast to her former playboy reputation, and gossipy accusations that she was involved in black magic and witchcraft. Speculation was rife within Pakistan. Mr Wattoo said Bibi was a deeply religious man who had been “totally misrepresented by media propaganda”.
Their marriage was also a source of discomfort within the PTI at a time when Khan was the prime minister amid allegations that he played a behind-the-scenes role in politics. Mr. Khan's aides claim that she influenced important political decisions such as cabinet appointments, sat behind a screen during certain political meetings and listened, and offered guidance and advice to Mr. Khan. He claimed that he had given.
While some PTI officials have privately expressed concern over Bibi's sudden rise, Khan himself is said to be happy. When told that Bibi was marching with the crowd from Peshawar, Khan burst into laughter as he spoke to his lawyer Faisal Fareed from prison. “She's an intelligent woman,” he said.
