Former Pakistan cricket captain Shoaib Malik flew into Hyderabad early on Saturday morning for his impending wedding to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. But instead of pre-nuptial niceties, the prospective groom was greeted by allegations that he was already married to someone else.
The shy Shoaib was shocked to learn that the Siddiqui family and their daughter Maha (also known as Ayesha) had taken an already-resolved issue to television channels on Friday.
"I thought we had sorted it out when we had sent a legal notice to M A Siddiqui two years ago," he said as preparations for his wedding begin. He spoke to The Times of India in the first and exclusive face-to-face interview to present his side of the story. Excerpts:
When did you meet Ayesha Siddiqui for the first time?
This relationship started on the telephone, in the year 2001. I was in Sharjah at that time, with the Pakistan cricket team. She telephoned me, introduced herself as Ayesha, and told me that she was a fan of mine, who lived in Saudi Arabia. That's how we got talking.
When then did you meet Ayesha Siddiqui?
As we started talking more and more, Ayesha sent me some photographs, which she said were of herself. I haven't met the girl in the photographs, not to this day.
Can you explain that?
When I returned to Pakistan after the Sharjah tournament, I showed my parents the photographs Ayesha had sent me. I told them that I liked this girl. We spoke every single day. I kept pushing her to meet me, but she resisted it. She said we'll meet at our shaadi.
Who is the girl in the photographs?
I thought it was Ayesha Siddiqui, the girl I was talking to. But now I honestly don't know.
You were talking every day to a girl you were interested in, didn't you want to meet her?
Of course I did. In 2002, I can't remember the exact date, I came to Hyderabad with the sole intention of meeting Ayesha. Just before I left Pakistan, she called me and told me she had to rush to Saudi Arabia on urgent work. She told me that her cousins, Reema and Maha apa (meaning older sister) would take me around. I then asked her cousins and parents where she was, and they said that in the last year she had put on a lot of weight, because of which she didn't want to meet me. I told them that I had photographs of her, and that she looked fine. But they said the photographs were of a year ago. A year or so later, I travelled to Hyderabad. Again, I was met by Reema and Maha apa. Ayesha gave me the same excuse, saying she hadn't lost the weight she had put on, because of which she didn't want to meet me.
What was your reaction?
I wanted to support her. I wanted to understand her situation.
Were you alright with not meeting her?
Before Pakistan's tour of India (2005), I told my brother-in-law that we should visit India, meet the girl and formalise the relationship. My brother-in-law Imran Zaffer had to come to New Delhi on work. He called Ayesha and told her he would be coming to Hyderabad. The day before he was to come here, she called and told him that she had to leave to the United States on urgent work. My brother-in-law wasn't very happy, but since his tickets were already booked he came to Hyderabad. She had told him she would leave her cell phone with her cousin Maha. Then, I got here for the Tour. In a game in Hyderabad, the day before the Pakistan cricket team was invited to the Siddiquis house for dinner, I won the man of the match. When I collected the award, I said that it is good that this happened in my wife's city.
When did you get married?
This episode happened in 2002. Ayesha wanted us to get married. While I definitely wanted to marry her, I didn't want to rush into it. For one, I hadn't met her. She suggested that we could do a telephone nikah right away. There was no way I could tell my parents about a telephone nikah, because it's not the way they wanted me to get married. I was just 20 then, and under a lot of pressure from Ayesha to get married as she was saying that her family was losing face in Hyderabad as word had got around that we were courting. I walked out of my house one morning in June 2002, and went to my friend's shop and called from there. I got a nikahnama, signed it, thinking the girl I was marrying was the one in the photographs.
In Muslim law, this arrangement doesn't work no matter what paper may or may not be there simply because, when the proposal was made, the image in my head was the girl in the photographs, but the girl, who was accepting the proposal was someone else. That's cheating.
You got married in 2002, which means you were just 20. It is below the legal marriageable age in India...
In Pakistan its 18. Still, I wasn't ready for marriage at that point. The Siddiquis had a reception for the Pakistan team, before that game in Hyderabad... It was a dinner. Once again, I went there hoping to meet her, but they said the same thing. It was very frustrating. A few players even asked Siddiqui saab, why she wasn't there. I was taken for a ride.
Did you not suspect that there was something wrong?
There are two things, foremost is the fact that I wanted this relationship to work, and secondly, I was around 20 when this happened. I was really young. Looking back, there were a few questions at the back of my mind. The more I met Maha apa, the way she spoke, particularly her accent, I thought it was similar to the girl on the phone, but I put it down to my mind working over time.
When did you discover that the girl in the photograph and the girl you were speaking to were two different people?
Some time in August 2005, when I was in Pakistan, my brother-in-law told me that his nephews, who were in Saudi had a teacher called Maha Siddiqui, who was telling everyone she was the Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik's wife. He showed me a photograph of the teacher and I was shocked to see it was Maha apa.
I called Ayesha immediately and told her I know the truth. I was enraged. I told her I was going to release the photographs she had mailed me. She apologised and told me that the other girl was married and that I would ruin her life if I released those pictures. I thought about it, whosoever photographs these are, probably doesn't even know about all this, and it wouldn't be fair to release those pictures.
Do you think your story is believable?
It is the truth as I lived it. My mistake is my innocence. Part of me is really, really angry, for what I have put my family and my (to be) in-laws, they have all been so sweet and supportive. I want to say this one thing, this is my first marriage.
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