Asked if the leaks from her upcoming book were genuine, Reham Khan said this was just a "manuscript".
New Delhi:
With controversy raging over leaked extracts of her upcoming tell-all book, Reham Khan, the former wife Pakistan's cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan, has told NDTV she believes it serves a public interest. The leaks ahead of the country's general elections next month, are just a coincidence, she said.
"These extracts, alleged excerpts of the book, have been released by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and their official spokespersons, their media wing and they have brought the book out. It is not published though, I really don't understand how it can be defamatory if it has not been made public. I've not made them public, that's for sure," Ms Khan said in an interview.
Asked if the leaks were genuine, she said this was just a "manuscript" and nothing had been published yet. The leaks have many allegations, ranging from sexual misconduct to the sex lives of her former husband and others in Pakistan, for which she is now being sued.
"I brought this book out, believing that this is important for people to know. So it is definitely in public interest. Really it should not be seen as revenge, it should be seen as in public interest," Ms Khan said.
"To be quite honest, if indeed it is going to affect the frontrunner for PM... I mean, I have my opinion about that," she said. "I have a political analysis about that because the way things are going in Pakistan, the way the propaganda machinery is working... It is a fascist approach basically... where if you do not speak in favour of a particular party leader -- in this case the leader of PTI -- or if you do not paint the PTI positively, your articles are pulled off from online websites, leading daily newspapers. Senior journalists have been under a lot of pressure, they have been intimidated."
Asked about her recent statements that Imran Khan would pander to extremists if he became Prime Minister, Reham Khan said she thought "he will do whatever it takes".
"All the people that they have chosen are really objectionable... I think if an extremist tilt is going to bring you into power, Imran is going to do that and that is my main complaint; we have seen in December last year a certain madarasa getting 50 crore while in 11 districts in the province where PTI rules, the Child Protection units have been shut, budgets for education, particularly girls' schooling, have been cut, 42 schools have been shut down and they have quoted budget restrictions," she added.
"These extracts, alleged excerpts of the book, have been released by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and their official spokespersons, their media wing and they have brought the book out. It is not published though, I really don't understand how it can be defamatory if it has not been made public. I've not made them public, that's for sure," Ms Khan said in an interview.
Asked if the leaks were genuine, she said this was just a "manuscript" and nothing had been published yet. The leaks have many allegations, ranging from sexual misconduct to the sex lives of her former husband and others in Pakistan, for which she is now being sued.
"I brought this book out, believing that this is important for people to know. So it is definitely in public interest. Really it should not be seen as revenge, it should be seen as in public interest," Ms Khan said.
"To be quite honest, if indeed it is going to affect the frontrunner for PM... I mean, I have my opinion about that," she said. "I have a political analysis about that because the way things are going in Pakistan, the way the propaganda machinery is working... It is a fascist approach basically... where if you do not speak in favour of a particular party leader -- in this case the leader of PTI -- or if you do not paint the PTI positively, your articles are pulled off from online websites, leading daily newspapers. Senior journalists have been under a lot of pressure, they have been intimidated."
Asked about her recent statements that Imran Khan would pander to extremists if he became Prime Minister, Reham Khan said she thought "he will do whatever it takes".
"All the people that they have chosen are really objectionable... I think if an extremist tilt is going to bring you into power, Imran is going to do that and that is my main complaint; we have seen in December last year a certain madarasa getting 50 crore while in 11 districts in the province where PTI rules, the Child Protection units have been shut, budgets for education, particularly girls' schooling, have been cut, 42 schools have been shut down and they have quoted budget restrictions," she added.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
