A quick update on the the Sania Mirza-Shoaib Malik controversy that I have written about twice previously:
In a bizarre twist on Wednesday, Malik, a Pakistani cricketer, agreed to divorce Ayesha Siddiqui, who had alleged she was his first wife, as he could not tie the knot with tennis champion Sania Mirza unless he did so. For nearly a week, Malik has swung from one story to another, first denying it completely that he was married, then saying he was tricked into signing an invalid nikanamha (necessary to legalise marriages in Islam) and now in a dramatic turnaround legally divorcing Ayesha.
The compromise was worked out by a group of elders of Hyderabad’s Muslim community where the saga has been unfolding these last few days. Mirza and Malik are now set to tie the knot at a glitzy function on April 15 in Hyderabad. But, not before putting an entire country’s curiosity in tight knots. As for me, and many others I am sure, I hope this is the last we hear of the Sania- Shoaib ‘shaadi’ (wedding).