A recent controversial interview featuring Khawar Maneka, the ex-husband of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, has ignited a political firestorm.

The interview, a focal point in political discussions on Tuesday, saw PTI leaders questioning its moral necessity, while PML-N adversaries seized the opportunity to cast aspersions on the PTI chief.

In the interview aired the previous night on Geo News’ Shahzeb Khanzada’s show, Maneka held Imran responsible for the breakdown of his marriage before Imran eventually married Bushra Bibi. The timing of the interview, just a week after Maneka’s release on bail in a land-grabbing case, raised eyebrows and drew comparisons to previous made-for-TV interviews given by PTI leaders after their release in different cases.

Former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister Taimur Jhagra expressed disgust, stating that interrogating former husbands about their wives was not part of Pakistan’s culture. PTI leader Hammad Azhar criticized the interviewer, Khanzada, accusing him of sensationalism and a staged approach to matrimonial issues.

Imran Khan’s legal team member, Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, conveyed Imran’s sadness over Maneka’s statement, emphasizing that such methods only served to destabilize the nation instead of promoting political stability and the rule of law.

While PTI leaders denounced the interview as disgraceful and scripted, PML-N leaders, including Nawaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah, weighed in. Sanaullah urged focusing on the content rather than speculating about ulterior motives behind the interview, stating that if the claims were wrong, they should be rejected, and if right, they should be acknowledged.

The political furor over the interview reflects the intense polarization within the Pakistani political landscape, with both PTI and PML-N leaders exchanging barbs and accusations amidst the ongoing political discourse.