Leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney today said he plans to visit India to "dig out the truth" about cricketer Shoaib Malik's reported marriage with Indian national Ayesha Siddiqui following a request from her mother.
Burney said Ayesha's mother had contacted him today on phone and "invited him to India with a request to ensure justice for her daughter and family with dignity and honour".
He said his office had requested the Indian high commission to issue him a visa on an urgent basis so that he could visit India to meet "both parties and dig out the truth", which is also necessary for good relations between the two neighbouring countries.
Burney told PTI that he had decided to visit India as the issue involved "human dignity and women's rights".
He said he had received hundreds of emails and phone calls on the issue from India and Pakistan over the past few days.
After the request from Ayesha's mother to investigate and find the truth, he decided to bring out the truth, he said.
Shoaib's plans to wed Indian tennis star Sania Mirza hit a roadblock after Ayesha claimed she had married the cricketer in 2002.
Shoaib has denied her claims.
Burney said Shoaib's plan to marry Sania was "their personal matter and he has nothing to do with it".
He added: "But since Ayesha has claimed she is Shoaib's wife, this has created serious doubts about alleged cheating and fraud. So I decided to help the victim, if any, in this case."
He said if Ayesha’s claim is proved correct, then the Ansar Burney Trust would ask Shoaib to "accept his earlier marriage and say sorry to Ayesha and India and Pakistan".
On the other hand, if Ayesha's claim is proved to be false, she will have to say sorry, he said.
