Islamabad, March 19 (IANS) Coming clean on his relationship with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, former Pakistan cricket captain Javed Miandad said that he felt ‘honoured’ to be associated with him.
In a recent interview, Miandad said that he has known Dawood Ibrahim for long before entering into a family relationship.
Miandad’s son Junaid is married to Dawood’s daughter Mahrukh since 2005.
“I have known Dawood bhai for years. We had family terms with them in Dubai. And I feel honoured that he and his family choose my son to be their son-in-law,” he said.
When the interviewer insisted that it was also an honour for Dawood Ibrahim to have his daughter married off to the cricketer’s son, Javed said that it was him who was honoured to be associated with Dawood Ibrahim.
“Dawood’s Ibrahim’s daughter studied from convent and then went to good universities. It is indeed an honour for me. Understanding the real self of Dawood Ibrahim is not easy. They are not the kind of people others think they are,” he said.
“The service they (Dawood Ibrahim) have given, of being a Muslim, will be written in golden words,” added Javed Miandad.
Pertinent to mention here that Javed Miandad’s son is married to Dawood Ibrahim’s daughter. While Dawood Ibrahim remains as India’s most wanted man with New Delhi claiming that he lives in the posh area of the port city Karachi, Javed Miandad has been very careful in talking about his connection to Dawood Ibrahim in brief.
Speaking about his own life, Javed Miandad said he grew up in a cricket loving family. His father used to play cricket and also ran a cricket club named Muslim Gymkhana as well.
“Cricket is a family game for me. My father played it, my elder brother Bashir Miandad played cricket. Then my two younger brothers Anwar and Sohail, both played first-class cricket,” he said.
Javed Miandad belongs to a family of five brothers and two sisters. He said he was close to his elder brother Bashir Miandad because he would take him to the cricket ground and also would teach him how to play the sport.
Talking about Imran Khan, former Pakistan Prime Minister, jailed for varous charges of corruption, vandalism and anti-state campaigning, Miandad said that he spent most of his cricket playing time with Imran Khan as both played for the national team and Miandad was the captain.
“Imran Khan’s bad habit that I can identify is that he didn’t listen to anyone and forced what he believed as right onto others. He just did not agree that someone else could be right too,” he said.
“Imran Khan’s good quality was that he helped others,” he added.
Miandad also revealed that Imran Khan was told that he would become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan at his residence.
“Some elders, who were there at my house in Karachi, along with Imran Khan revealed it to him that he would become the next Prime Minister of Pakistan,” he said.
When asked to reveal the names of the elders, he smiled and said no, hinting that the elders were from some powerful quarters of the country, calling the shots at the time.
Javed Miandad got married in 1981-82 and has two sons and one daughter. The eldest son Junaid, who tied the knot with the daughter of Dawood Ibrahim, is the only one who is married.
“My eldest son has a son and a daughter,” said Javed Miandad.
The underworld don is wanted for the Mumbai blasts of 1993, where around 250 people were killed in a series of bombings that rocked the city and changed it forever.
–IANS
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