Bring your bride home, Afridi to Malik

Lahore: Pakistan`s Twenty20 cricket captain Shahid Afridi today hoped that his beleaguered teammate Shoaib Malik would tide over the legal storm caused by a past affair gone wrong and bring his bride home.

"Since he has gone to India he must now bring his bride home," Afridi said.

Malik is in a legal mess in Hyderabad after his alleged first wife Ayesha Siddiqui filed an FIR against him for trying to marry Indian tennis star Sania Mirza without taking a formal divorce.

Shoaib`s passport has been seized and the Hyderabad police questioned him for close to two hours today.

Afridi, who is dealing with his own share of problems after being slapped with a Rs three million fine by the Pakistan Cricket Board for indiscipline and ball-tampering, said he would not be hiring a lawyer to fight his case or file an appeal against the punishment.

"I don`t want to make an issue of this fine and I will try to resolve it myself. I don`t want to get involved in hiring any lawyer as it will only complicate matters," he said.


The Pakistani captain said he had only asked the board to clarify how they could fine him for an offence for which he had already got punishment from the ICC match referee.

"If I am satisfied with their answer I will not pursue this case any further," he said.

"The board has taken its decision, some players have been banned and some have been fined but I have told the players they must get over this phase and focus on doing well in the Twenty20 World Cup where we have to defend our title," Afridi added.

He also rejected suggestions that the punishments handed out to the players would have a negative effect on their performance.

"We are all professionals and we are supposed to perform for our country and we need to overcome these pressures and fight on," he said.

Pakistan to fully back Shoaib Malik: Foreign office

Islamabad/Hyderabad, April 5 (IANS) Pakistan said Monday it would fully back cricketer Shoaib Malik as he contests cheating charges by Ayesha Siddiqui, a resident of Hyderabad in India, who claims to be his first wife and has demanded a divorce before he weds Indian tennis star Sania Mirza.

Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit told reporters that the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi was in touch with the Indian authorities and had asked for details about the First Information Report (FIR) the Hyderabad police filed against Malik on Sunday following Ayesha’s complaint.

“We will have to wait till the details of the FIR are with us,” Basit added.

The Hyderabad police Monday seized Malik’s passport after questioning him for nearly two hours at Sania Mirza’s home on Ayesha’s complaint.

Shoaib was unhappy that his passport had been seized and said he would complain to the Pakistan High Commission, police sources said. He was questioned at Sania’s Jubilee Hills home.

Assistant Commissioner of Police R. Ravinder Reddy told reporters after the questioning that the case was under investigation but refused to answer any queries.

Another team of police officials recorded Ayesha’s statement at her residence in Banjara Hills. She handed over the ‘nikahnama’, or marriage document, which has been sent to the forensic laboratory to verify Shoaib’s signature.

Police posed several questions to Ayesha and her parents regarding her complaint. She reportedly gave details of Shoaib’s stay in Hyderabad during his visits after the marriage.

Shoaib, who landed in Hyderabad Friday, has been staying at Sania’s house in preparation for their April 15 wedding.

Since Ayesha’s charges of cheating, dowry harassment and criminal intimidation are serious and non-bailable, the police Sunday night alerted all airports to prevent Shoaib from leaving India.

She alleged that Shoaib had offered her $1 million to keep mum about their marriage. She also stated that he threatened her to not speak to the media.

The FIR has been booked under sections 498 A (harassment), 420 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Section 498 A also relates to cruelty against married women.

A senior police officer said they were also taking legal opinion on the complaint against Shoaib as it involved a foreigner and the crimes might have been committed by him abroad.

The police may also have to take permission from the union home ministry before arresting Shoaib.

Shoaib had Sunday denied marrying Ayesha saying he signed a ‘nikahnama’ for marrying a girl whose photographs she had been sending him.

Shoaib`s family waiting for details of case

Lahore: Shoaib Malik`s family is waiting for details of the case registered against him on the complaint filed by Ayesha Siddiqui, who claims to be the first wife of the cricketer, at Banjara Hills Police station in Hyderabad.

"We really don`t know what the cases have been made out against Shoaib but our lawyer in India is in touch with Shoaib and with us and is obtaining the copies of the FIR and other details," Shoaib`s brother-in-law Imran Zafar said today.

He made it clear that Shoaib was not the type of person to threaten anyone and Ayesha`s claims that he offered her millions of rupees to keep quiet were ridiculous.

Sources close to Shoaib said that after Ayesha and her family went ahead with filing the police report, the Pakistani cricketer`s mother and family members were worried.

"Contact has also been established with the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi through government channels to see whether this case can become a big problem for Shoaib," one source stated.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani barrister hired by Ayesha said he would file a case against Shoaib in the next few days.

"I am just waiting for some more documents and evidence to come from India after which I will file a case against Shoaib," Farooq Hasan said.

He, however, did not elaborate if he would also file a complaint against Shoaib with the police as Ayesha and her family had done in Hyderabad today.

"I had a detailed discussion with Ayesha and her father today and once they send me more documents I will move ahead," he added.

Hasan said under Pakistani law if Ayesha claimed to be the first wife of Shoaib then he could not enter into a second `nikah` without her permission.

Sources said Hasan is planning to hold a press conference tomorrow to give out details of the cases he will file against Shoaib.

Few takers for Sania-Shoaib wedding in Pakistan

Islamabad: Most Pakistanis think cross-border marriages may be the perfect way to bridge the great divide between their country and India, but they are not giving the Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik wedding much of a chance.

"I think Sania Mirza is too good for Shoaib Malik. It`s a bad bargain," Ayesha Ansari (name changed), the retired headmistress of an elite school in Pakistan, said.

Ansari claimed she isn`t the only one who thinks like that.

"A lot of Pakistanis I know feel this marriage will not work. It`s a tough one," she said.

However, Ansari is all for Indo-Pakistan marriages. "Such marriages are a good thing. Good for both countries. They explode myths, remove phobias and bring people together."

For most Pakistanis, marriage by itself is a tricky proposition and the Indo-Pakistan situation compounds issues further.

"Mutual attraction, marriage is a good thing. But what happens if the marriage does not last?" asked Sadia Khan, an IT professional.

Ansari herself crossed the border from India many years ago to marry a Pakistani.

Unfortunately her marriage did not last long. Neither did the marriage of her daughter, who decided to settle down with an Indian.

Though Ansari was allowed to live in India on a special visa for several years, she had to eventually return to Pakistan and live the rest of her life as a Pakistani.

"Such marriages are not wrong. The political situation is. Why can`t they offer dual citizenship to people who decide to marry on either side?" Ansari suggested.

"A lot of my Pakistani students are from broken homes. So it`s not that the problem is with Indo-Pakistan marriages alone. Marriages are tricky everywhere," she said.

The "third country solution” in Sania and Shoaib`s case the decision to live in Dubai after the wedding also does not work, according to Ansari.

"You are away from your respective families. I am not sure if that works," she said.

Under the circumstances, several Pakistanis believe Sania`s marriage stands little chance.

The controversy over Shoaib`s reported marriage to Ayesha Siddiqui too has complicated the situation, Ansari said.