Modi, sexuality & drugs: Reham Khan’s five shocking accounts

The British-Pakistani journalist Reham Khan’s much awaited book was released on Thursday in UK and made available as an e-book across the world. Controversial portrayal of her ex-husband and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, who apparently believes this year is his best chance to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan, may queer the pitch for him.

Here are five of the most controversial passages from the book:

Imran’s Indian children

During the conversation about Tyrian White, Reham claims Imran told her: “You know she isn’t the only one (illegitimate children) I have… There are 5 in total, that I know of”.

“What? You have five illegitimate children! How do you know?” Reham asked.

“Well, the mothers told me,” Imran replied.

“All [Sita] White’s?”

“No, some are Indians. The eldest is 34 now.”

“How Imran? Why did the mother not come out with it?”

“Because she was over the moon! She had been married for ages and couldn’t get pregnant. She was overjoyed, promised to keep it a secret, and begged to keep it. So, I said OK.”

“And the rest? Why did they never speak?” Reham fired at him.

“Well, because they were all married and they didn’t want their marriages to be destroyed,” Imran said.

“Does anyone else know?”

“Only Jemima does. I told her.”

Time to be the PM?

He (Imran Khan) would often talk about his future as Prime Minister. During the dharna, whenever he had renewed hope, he would paint a scene of him standing up there, giving the victory speech. I knew it wasn’t happening. It was all over as we had predicted, but I didn’t have the heart to ever say that after we got married. I assured him that I would have a green silk suit ready… I would gently and repeatedly give the example of Modi, the Indian Prime Minister, who was Chief Minister of Gujarat for a decade, and then elected to the top job because his seemingly strong governance record, despite all the other negative baggage.

Not any more of ‘crap’

When I would plead with him to attend to an issue by visiting the location, he would literally wail, “Do you have any idea how long I have been doing this for? I am so fed up of this crap. It’s been 20 f…g years! I can’t do this anymore!” It was clear that Imran felt it was high time he was ‘given the prize’. I would reason with him by saying, “But Imran, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in a cell with no end in sight. Narendra Modi was a Chief Minister for 10 years before he became PM. He was voted despite his radical views because of a good governance track record. Prove yourself in KP then look to the centre.

The sex starved leader

During one interaction, Imran told the author, “I was sex deprived, and she took me to this counsellor with huge breasts. I can’t recall anything except that Jemima kept on droning about my flaws, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off the woman’s breasts”. She goes on to add: Needless to say, counselling did not work. Imran said that the last time Jemima came over to Pakistan just before their divorce, he was surprised to find a rather different, responsive wife. He described it as the best sex they had ever had in all their time together, but as soon as she returned, she was back with Hugh Grant.

The female Pir and superstition

Imran was a man who'd blamed his confusion and mood swings on the Pir while trying to woo me a year earlier. Imran had begged me for forgiveness, explaining that the Pir had told him not to marry me. There had apparently been a mix up of my parents' names with the names of another woman (the Pir had told him I was a woman who'd had a string of sexual partners, and, more shockingly, that these partners had been white).

She further writes that the things got steadily weirder. Detailing how soon after marriage, Reham walked into her bedroom to find Imran "lying naked on a white sheet, rubbing kaali daal (black lentils) all over himself. He laughed in embarrassment as he rubbed them on his genitalia". As instructed to, by his pir apparently.

She goes on to mention how there wasn't just one Pir, but a revolving door of them. A new female Pir was introduced to Imran the year before he tied the knot with Reham.

Writing about Imran’s drug problem, she quotes Imran as saying: "Baby, what do you know about drugs? You have never done it. A line of coke is just like half a glass of wine." She further elaborates on Imran’s use of 'all sorts of tranquillisers, mainly benzodiazepines like Xanax and Lexotanil', Rohypnol and heroin. She also recalls an incident that saw her rush Imran to hospital because he had been doing drugs on an empty stomach.