Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah on Thursday added more controversy to the ongoing marriage saga
of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and tennis ace Sania Mirza's by extending an invitation to the couple to spend
their honeymoon in the province.
Shah's invite to this high profile Indo-Pak couple is being seen as a ploy to further internationalise the Kashmir
dispute.
Gilgit-Baltistan is a part of the undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistani authorities have been
attempting to delink Gilgit from the Kashmir issue by making it Pakistan's fifth province.
The move to delink Gilgit has met with strong international criticism and the invite to Sania and Shoaib is seen as
an attempt by Islamabad to have Gilgit declared a part of Pakistan.
Shah said both Sania and Shoaib would be given official protocol in Gilgit if they decide to visit the region after their
marriage.
"The people of Gilgit would be delighted if Shoaib and tennis player Sania could spend their honeymoon in the
province," Shah said in a statement.
Clouds of uncertainty still hover over the Shoaib-Sania wedding, since the media flashed news about their marriage.
A Hyderabad-based girl, Ayesha Siddiqui, had lodged a complaint of 'fraud' and 'cheating' against Shoaib, claiming
that she was already married to him.
On Wednesday, after the intervention of community leaders, Shoaib divorced Ayesha, who had earlier claimed that
they had both got married in 2002.
Shoaib signed the talaqnama (divorce papers) after the leaders said that the public splashing and scrutiny of the
episode had brought a bad name to the community.
As of now, the star couple would tie the nuptial knot on April 15 in Hyderabad.
Thursday, April 08, 2010 14:07 IST