After Quaid, only Imran & Erdogan are leaders: Bushra Bibi

LAHORE: Bushra Bibi, the wife of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has said in her first interview to a private channel that Pakistanis are fortunate to have a leader like Imran Khan.

She said that her husband is a "leader" and "not a politician”. "Quaid-i-Azam was a leader. Khan Sahib is a leader, and [in the rest of the world] only [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan is a leader. All others are just politicians," she added. "When God wants to change the fate of a nation, He gives them a leader instead of a politician," First Lady Bushra said, adding that the prime minister had the country's best interests at heart.

When asked about how she felt about her transition from spiritual guide (pir) to first lady, Bushra Bibi quipped: "In my past life, people used to come to me to get close to God and his messenger; now they come to me to get closer to Khan Sahib. "It is important to worship and pray, but it is more important to serve humankind," the first lady said. "This is something I've learnt from Khan Sahib." She also credited the prime minister for helping her gain a greater appreciation for life. "People say that I have changed him, while the truth is that we have changed each other," she said. "I taught him that worship brings you closer to God, and he taught me that loving His creation brings us closer to Him." Speaking of her husband's simple lifestyle, the first lady said that he is not particular about clothes or food. "He wants nothing," she said.

"He does not get any clothes stitched for himself. When I reached his house after marriage, I asked one of the housekeepers to take out his summer clothes. And he told me that he (Imran) does not have any summer clothes," she said, narrating an incident from the early days of her marriage. "The housekeeper told me that he wears clothes whatever is given to him by someone in his house. He never gets any clothes stitched for himself," she added. She recalled, "Someone came and gifted him a few stitched sets of shalwar-kameez, which he wore throughout the season.

"I have never seen such a simpler person. He is free of any wants or desires," she added.

Speaking of a shift in PM Khan's temperament post-election, the show's host commented that the firebrand leader seems to have mellowed down in the past few months. To this, the first lady said that this shift can be attributed to his increased religiosity. She mentioned that PM Khan makes it a point to fulfil his religious obligations despite his busy daily routine.

Responding to a question, the first lady rubbished reports published in some sections of the media that she had been divinely inspired to marry Imran Khan.

"I cannot conceive of how or why people choose to circulate such lies," she remarked in exasperation.

Also brushing aside another controversy surrounding her marriage to Imran Khan which was published in certain sections of the press, the first lady said she had completed her ‘iddat’ before she even left her former husband's house.

"I could have married someone the day I left my former husband's home, but I waited some six or seven months before I did so," she said, mentioning that her former husband had been very particular about fulfilling religious obligations.

She also regretted the controversy speculation over the timing of her marriage had stirred, saying it caused her distress.

Speaking of the tasks she plans to champion during her time as the first lady, Bushra Imran told Nadeem Malik of HumTV that she had been deeply moved when she visited an old people's home in Lahore.

"The pain [I felt] was such that I could not eat or pray for the next few days," she recalled. "Some of the people I met had nothing [...] some asked me for a small stipend, just so that they could spend Rs10 on something on their own. That jolted my soul to the core. I just wanted to leave that place quickly and do something for them."

She spoke in a similar vein about her desire to help orphans and the differently-abled persons, recalling anecdotes from her visits to various facilities and promising to do something for their welfare as the first lady.