TV host turned politician Aamir Liaquat is a controversy that keeps on giving. In an interview with FHM Pakistan on Friday, he claimed that he is still married to Syeda Tuba Anwar, and that neither a khulla nor a divorce has gone through.
According to Liaquat, a khulla can only go through with the husband’s consent, a claim he tried to bolster by sharing a five-year-old article from a local English daily.
Sitting with a bored looking Syeda Dania, his third wife, he went so far as to say that if Tuba gets married again, it will be akin to adultery. When asked for an opinion on her husband’s view, Dania softly piped up “I have no issues, I will think of her as an elder sister.”
Liaquat seemed to double down and said, “Tuba can come back whenever she wants, but Dania is here to stay.”
This interview prompted Tuba on Saturday to take to Twitter to reply.
In a five part tweet, she wrote that she wished to repeat that she went through the court system as per her right as a Pakistani to get a divorce. She further confirmed that the court granted her a divorce in accordance with the laws of Pakistan.
“Everything else that's being claimed or said on the media is a complete misinterpretation of facts, and holds no value in a court of law,” she said.
Tuba also urged Islamic scholars to speak up for women, especially those “who choose to exercise their rights in accordance with the Sharia and Pakistan's constitution.”
She further went on to say that Islam permits women to opt for a divorce if a relationship is not working and how “taking a graceful exit from a toxic and abusive marriage is a right and not a sin.”
This should have been the end of the discussion, but Liaquat does not quit while he is ahead. Instead he went to Instagram and made a dig at Tuba’s Syed lineage. He further spoke about judgement day and how the constitution will not stand then.
Tuba has not replied to or engaged with Liaquat at any point and one can only wonder where the courts stand, if politicians such as Liaquat will not believe in the decisions they take.
