Shortly after a friend of Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi left Pakistan, an image surfaced on social media, which showed her travelling in a flight with a luxury handbag. The friend, Farah Khan, left for Dubai on Sunday after being accused of corruption amid the political turmoil in the country. The photo, circulating widely on Twitter, shows Khan in a flight with the bag kept near her feet. Khan’s husband had left Pakistan before her. It is not, however, clear when the photo was taken.
The leaders of Opposition parties in Pakistan have claimed that the bag is worth $90,000. “Farah Khan, Bushra’s Frontwoman who ran away. The bag with her is for $90,000. Yes! That’s ninety thousand dollars,” tweeted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Romina Khurshid Alam.
Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N vice-president and deposed premier Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, claimed that Khan carried on the racket at the behest of Imran and his wife. She added that Imran Khan fears that once he is out of power, his “thefts” will be exposed.
The photo has invited comments from Twitterati. “Traveling in private jet to Dubai costs more than 50,000 US dollars. Look at the Hermes sandals,” a user pointed out.
Opposition parties in Pakistan allege that Farah Khan received a huge sum of money for getting officers transferred and posted according to their choices, calling the scam the “mother of all scandals” amounting to 6 billion Pakistani rupees ($32 million).
There are reports that more close aides of Khan have planned to leave the country after he loses the top office. On Sunday, Khan dissolved Parliament after the deputy speaker dismissed a no-trust motion against him. The opposition parties moved the Supreme Court challenging the deputy speaker’s act as “illegal and unconstitutional”.
President Arif Ali, meanwhile, asked Imran to continue as Prime Minister until a caretaker premier is installed.
