Nawaz Sharif’s grandson Muhammad Junaid Safdar on Thursday confirmed reports that his two-year-old marriage with Ayesha Saif Khan had ended.
In a short message which Junaid posted on Instagram, he simply stated, “News about my divorce is true.”
He went on to state that this was a private matter and requested the media to respect the privacy of the families involved.
“I hope with this decision we find our peace In Shaa Allah,” he said, adding that he will not publicly speak on the matter. “I wish her [Ayesha] well.”
Junaid, who is the son of Maryam Nawaz and Captain Muhammad Safdar, had tied the knot with Ayesha in a grand Nikkah ceremony at The Lanesborough, an upscale five-star hotel on the Hyde Park Corner in Knightsbridge, the same area where his grandfather, deposed prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif lives and has an office.
The August 2021 ceremony was held with both Nawaz and former finance minister Ishaq Dar in attendance, but Maryam and Capt Safdar did not attend since they were in Lahore. They did not have access to their passports at the time since they had been confiscated by the government pending resolution of cases against them.
Later in December the same year, a grand wedding reception, with festivities lasting for almost a week, was held in Islamabad.
Ayesha is the daughter of Saifur Rehman Khan, who was believed to be a close confidante of Nawaz Sharif and had served as the head of the accountability watchdog Ehtisab Commission during his second tenure as prime minister in 1997.
The news of Junaid’s divorce comes on a day when Nawaz Sharif departed London for Saudi Arabia to perform Umra prior to his announced return to Pakistan next week on October 21. Nawaz will be returning to Pakistan after spending four years in self-exile.
