Bushra Bibi, wife of jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, and supporters of Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) attend a rally demanding his release, in Islamabad, Pakistan on November 26, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
In the chaos of protests that turned Pakistan’s capital into a battleground, a new figurehead has emerged: Bushra Bibi, the wife of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.
Until now, she has appeared only rarely in official photos, shielded from view during court appearances by large white sheets and always wearing a face veil.
But since being released from jail last month, where her husband and the country’s wildly popular opposition leader still languishes, Mr. Khan’s third wife has stepped up in his defence and roused his fanatic followers.
“It was assumed that there was an understanding that she is a non-political person, hence she will not be a threat,” said analyst Asma Faiz, an associate professor of political science at Lahore University of Management Sciences.
“However, the events of the last few days have shown a different side of Bushra Bibi.”
Islamabad was brought to a standstill on Monday (November 25, 2024) and Tuesday (November 26, 2024) when around 10,000 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf supporters flooded the capital, defying a ban by authorities which rights groups have accused of a violent crackdown.
Nearly 1,000 people were arrested and five members of the security forces killed.
In the days leading up to the protest, Bibi made her first direct appeal to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, pleading with them to defend Mr. Khan.
She made an unexpected appearance on top of a truck in a convoy of vehicles in the midst of the clashes between protesters and security forces, seizing the limelight ahead of other leaders.
“You will have to promise that till the time Mr. Khan comes here, you will not leave,” she cried to the crowds.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was clear about where he apportioned blame for the chaos.
“Bushra Bibi is the only one responsible,” he said.
‘Khan’s messenger’
A faith healer, Bibi and Mr. Khan became close when he turned to her for spiritual guidance in his political career.
The pair married in 2018, the same year Mr. Khan was elected prime minister after an insurgent campaign promising to replace decades of entrenched dynastic politics.
She was arrested and detained in the days before February’s national elections over corruption and for breaking Islamic law by marrying Mr. Khan too soon after her divorce.
“Her relationship to Mr. Khan gives her authenticity in the eyes of protestors who at the end of the day are marching for Mr. Khan,” said Michael Kugelman, a director at the Wilson Center.
But her role has the potential to cause division in a party that has struggled to maintain a tight top leadership with Mr. Khan sidelined in jail.
“Bibi’s prominent place in the protests may be controversial as some party leaders are sparring with her, but her role actually helps advance the party’s mobilisation goals, which are a critical priority,” Kugelman added.
In her social media video a week ago, she attacked Saudi Arabia – a key partner of Islamabad – leaving the party scrambling to backtrack.
It was also Bibi who encouraged the protesters to march to the centre of the capital, despite the government saying a senior PTI leader had already promised to keep to the periphery of the city.
Mr. Khan, in comments made to his team from jail and posted on social media, played down her influence.
She has “no connection with politics”, he said ahead of the protest.
“As she is my wife, she only transmits my messages,” he assured before the demonstrations.
PTI media department echoed the comments on Thursday (November 28, 2024): “She led the protest as the wife of Mr. Khan, not a political leader of the party.”
Family politics
In Pakistan, several women have been suddenly propelled into politics: former prime minister Benazir Bhutto during the coup against her father and Maryam Nawaz Sharif, niece of current Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, when her father was imprisoned and then exiled.
“When the pawns fall, the Queen rises. Checkmate,” a Pakistani commented on X.
Many have praised Bibi’s “courage” under the photos of her haranguing the crowd from the top of a container.
But the new involvement of Bushra Bibi is a double-edged sword for Mr. Khan, whose sister Aleema also plays a growing role in PTI.
Pitched as the outsider facing the generational politics of the Bhutto and Sharif families, the hero of Pakistan’s new era treads a careful line.
Published – November 29, 2024 11:34 am IST
