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Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Syed Mehdi Shah on Thursday added more controversy to the ongoing marriage saga of Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and tennis ace Sania Mirza's by extending an invitation to the couple to spend their honeymoon in the province. Shah's invite to this high profile Indo-Pak couple is being seen as a ploy to further internationalise the Kashmir dispute. Gilgit-Baltistan is a part of the undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistani authorities have been attempting to delink Gilgit from the Kashmir issue by making it Pakistan's fifth province. The move to delink Gilgit has met with strong international criticism and the invite to Sania and Shoaib is seen as an attempt by Islamabad to have Gilgit declared a part of Pakistan. Shah said both Sania and Shoaib would be given official protocol in Gilgit if they decide to visit the region after their marriage. "The people of Gilgit would be delighted if Shoaib and tennis player Sania could

Newly-wed couple tennis star Sania Mirza and cricketer Shoaib Malik arrived in Pakistan on Thursday to a frenzied reception, with the federal government according the couple the status of "state guests". After flying into the port city of Karachi from Mumbai in the afternoon, the couple arrived in the federal capital late in the evening. The couple and their entourage were received by senior police and civil officials at Benazir Bhutto airport in Rawalpindi and driven to Serena Hotel in Islamabad. Coverage of Sania and Shoaib's every move dominated news bulletins on TV channels though Pakistan is grappling with a crippling energy crisis that has sparked protests across the country. New measures unveiled by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani were relegated to second place as the TV news channels sought to out-do each other with "exclusive footage" of the couple. Sania and Shoaib disappointed hundreds of fans who gathered at the airports in Karachi and Islamabad as

A day after getting back his passport, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and his wife Indian tennis star Sania Mirza Wednesday faced fresh trouble with a city court asking police to look into the complaint that they hurt religious sentiments of Muslims. A Muslim organisation has complained that Shoaib, Sania, Shoaib's fist wife Ayesha Siddiqui and 11 others hurt the sentiments of Muslims on the issue of divorce. The IIIrd additional chief metropolitan magistrate referred the complaint to Banjara Hills police station for investigation and directed the police to submit the report by May 26. Moullim Mohsin Bin Hussain Al-Kasary, president of Mazlumeen-e-Ummatay Mohammediya organisation, has also named former Indian captain Mohammed Azharuddin, Sania's father Imran Mirza and two 'Qazis' in his complaint. He said these persons hurt the religious sentiments on the issue of Shoaib's divorce to Ayesha. He pointed out that the Pakistani cricketer did not officially divorce Ay

Mohammad Asif-Veena Malik controversy took an interesting turn on Thursday with the fast bowler accusing his former actress girlfriend of stealing the two cheques which she was claiming to have bounced. Veena had slapped a legal notice on Asif on the ground that the two cheques, amounting to 11.3 million rupees, which he gave her to settle a money dispute bounced but Asif dismissed the allegation and said the cheques were actually stolen from his home by her. "The cheques she is talking about were stolen from my home in February and I reported their theft to the police and there is a FIR registered with the police," Asif said.      Asif said he didn't owe Veena a single penny and that she was taking revenge for his marrying another girl chosen by his family. "I don't owe her a single penny. Why should I need to take money from anyone. I am a professional cricketer and I earn well. Even when I was banned I got payments from my IPL team," said Asif who is pres

The mudslinging is over and it's time to celebrate now, said Shoaib Malik's teammates and other Pakistani cricketers as they welcomed his decision to divorce Ayesha Siddiqui after a bitter row, paving the way for his marriage with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza.     "I am happy for Shoaib and Sania that they are getting married because whatever was happening in the last few days in this issue was very sad and in bad taste," said fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar.      "The way things went and were portrayed in the last one week brought a bad name to Pakistan and was also spoiling image of India, so it is good this controversy is now over," he added.      Pakistan's chief selector Mohsin Khan said he was relieved that the issue had been resolved amicably between Shoaib, who will marry Sania on April 15, and the Siddiquis.      "A marriage is a time for celebration and joy and unfortunately in this particular case things had really gotten out of hand and the

If you thought that the three-ring-circus of the Shoaib-Sania-Ayesha had ended, don't give away your all-access pass just yet (and we all had one, whether we signed up for it or not). Now that his first marriage is behind him, Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik has issued a formal press release which implies that he was wrong to have insisted  - publicly and repeatedly -that he did not marry Hyderabad resident Ayesha Siddiqui a few years ago.   Shoaib formally divorced Siddiqui on Tuesday, after days of allegations and counter-allegations.  He will marry tennis star Sania Mirza on the 15th.  Read his press release below : I would like to firstly thank " ALLAH ALMIGHTY" and all of you as media and the entire nation of Pakistan in supporting me and giving me the strength to face all what has been witnessed. Im no one to judge what is wrong or what is right as the one above knows the truth. I have done what was the best amicable thing to do as it was getting beyond reasoning a

The 'Haq Mehr' kept in the Nikah ceremony performed between Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik on Monday was a staggering Rs 61 lakhs. Shoaib's brother-in-law Imran Zafar told PTI that the marriage had been a simple one with only 15 relatives of Malik and around 35 members of Sania's family attending the ceremony at Hotel Taj Krishna. Shoaib and Sania tied the nuptial knot after both the families advanced the high-profile marriage by three days after a tumultuous build up to the wedding.     "We kept it a simple affair. We are now relieved that marriage has finally taken place after so many controversies," Imran said. "We had to obtain the photocopy of Shoaib's passport from the Hyderabad Police for the Nikah ceremony as his passport is still in the possession of a court," he said.      In the Muslim community, the wife is given a set financial sum at the time of the marriage, which is written down as a term of the

Annoyed by tennis player, Sania Mirza's marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik, a couple from Ujjain has decided to change their eight-year-old daughter's name from Sania to Sangeeta. The couple Geeta and Madanlal Harod had named their daughter after Sania in 2002 as they felt that the name would bring glory to their family. Madanlal said that although he was a staunch Hindu, he and his wife had no problems in giving their daughter a Muslim name as Sania was very popular then. He said that they liked the name Sania as the tennis player had brought glory for India through her game. An application to change his daughter Sania's name to Sangeeta has already been filed with the Saraswati Shishu Mandir where her daughter is studying in class III, he said. Sania's name would not have been changed had the tennis player had married an Indian Muslim, Madanlal said.

Employees of petrol pumps of a particular company, endorsed by Sania Mirza, are so upset by her marriage to Shoaib Malik, that they have taken to removing her posters from their petrol pumps. "We have removed Sania's face from all the posters displayed here as we don't like her marrying a Pakistani cricketer," said an employee at the company's petrol pump at the Bangalore International Airport road. "We were Sania's fans earlier. That is not the case anymore. How can any Indian marry a Pakistani?" asked an attendant at another petrol pump. A businessman, who owns a petrol pump, said all posters featuring Sania had been removed because they don't want any trouble. "This is just being done to be on the safer side. How do we handle if some miscreants decide to pelt stones at us. There is nothing we can do in such a situation. We hope removing the posters makes it safe for us. We don't want to invite any trouble," said the businessman.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Sania and Shoaib Malik describe how and where they met, and the toll their controversial wedding has taken on the couple. Speaking to  Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of the Indian Express and host of NDTV's Walk the Talk, Sania said that she spent three hours getting her mehendi applied.  The couple got married earlier this week.   Ribbing her husband for his impatience, Sania said, " He couldn't sit still and he went away for an hour and a half...he told his brother  'entertain your bhabhi'." Pakistani cricketer Shoaib  tells NDTV they met "in 2004 for two minutes."  Sania says, "We were staying at the same hotel.  I was on my way to the gym and we met there." They say they met again in Dubai. Sania says, "A long courtship was not possible.  Because we are well-known in our own and each other's countries, so it would have been tough to keep under wraps.  We are both from respectable families.&quo

Bring on the puns about love games, fine legs and bowling a maiden over. Pakistan's former cricket captain, Shoaib Malik, is to marry India's top-ranked female tennis player, Sania Mirza. In India, the rightwing Hindu nationalist political party, the BJP, has asked Mirza to "reconsider" her decision to marry a Pakistani, while more centrist parties have remained silent. In Pakistan, the Islamic rightwing political parties – who would usually have a lot to say about women who wear tennis skirts – have remained silent, while more centrist parties have voiced their congratulations. The contrasting attitudes each side of the border actually reveal the same assumption: a wife belongs to her husband's "household", so an Indian woman marrying a Pakistani man is unpatriotic, whereas a Pakistani man marrying an Indian woman is carrying home the spoils of victory. Or, as the painfully sexist/ jingoistic joke doing the rounds in Pakista

Most hurdles crossed, Sania and Shoaib are now set to come together in a holy matrimony. The known cost of divorcing his ex-wife is Rs 15,000. But there're reports suggesting that Shaoib has paid a good 15 crore to buy his independence. Frantic negotiations anchored by several Muslim leaders, including cricketer-cum-MP Mohd Azharuddin, Andhra Pradesh minorities welfare minister Mohammed Ahmadullah, and Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Abid Rasool Khan. The matter was resolved and Ayesha's family has withdrawn all cases against Shoaib lodged with Hyderabad police. Sources say that officially, Ayesha will get Rs 5,000 as mehr for three months during the Iddat period as alimony according to the Sharia law. And Ayesha's family emphatically denies any additional money changing hands. But speculation is rife that Shoaib has agreed to pay Rs 12 crore to Ayesha and her family and another Rs 3 crore towards sundry 'costs.'

HYDERABAD: Tennis star Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik tied the nuptial knot on Monday (April 12) as the two families advanced the high-profile marriage by three days after a tumultuous build up to the wedding. Originally, the marriage was to take place on April 15 although stories on the re-scheduling of the marriage kept coming in the media. <br /> <br /> "The nikah has now completed. Please pray for the couple," Sania's spokesperson Rucha Nayak said. <br /> <br /> Clad in a red saree, which her mother Nasima wore in her nikah 25 years ago, Sania thus became the second wife of the Pakistani cricketer, who divorced his first wife Ayesha Siddiqui last week. <br /> <br /> Shoaib wore a black sherwani, designed by Shantanu and Nikhil, for the nikah ceremony held at hotel Taj Krish

About Shoaib Malik’s alleged ‘nikah’ with India’s Ayesha Siddiqi on telephone, Mufti Muhammad Naeem says that Islamic Shariat do es not recognize any such relationship, which cannot be trusted. According to Shariat, he said, eyewitnesses’s account is obligatory for the verification of nikah. He said that the acceptance of both bride and groom in front of the eyewitnesses was necessary as per Shariat. The telephonic testimony is not trustworthy according to the Shariat and neither there is any standing about the acceptance of groom.  Sania’s heart beats for a Pakistani: Thackeray Chief of an extremist organization, Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray said here on Friday that tennis star Sania Mirza is not an Indian at heart as her heart beat is for a Pakistani. He was criticizi ng the Indian tennis queen for deciding to marry Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and said she is no longer an Indian. The 84-year-old Sena supremo also said in an arti

A case of cheating has been filed against Shoaib Malik on the complaint of Mohammed Siddiqui, father of Ayesha, who claims to be the first wife of Pakistani cricketer. The Banjara Hills police said a case under Sections 420 (cheating), 498-A (dowry harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation) has been booked against Shoaib and they will take up the investigation after verifying facts of the complaint. Shoaib, who landed in Hyderabad on Saturday, had denied earlier in the day that he had ever entered into a wedlock with Ayesha. On the other hand, Ayesha counsel in Pakistan Barrister Farooq Hasan said that a case of fraud would be filed against Shoaib in 72 hours. He said the he would file a case in the court to get a stay order against the marriage.

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik attempted in an interview published on Sunday to end confusion about his marital status ahead of his celebrity wedding to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. "Sania Mirza will be my first wife. I have been cheated by Ayesha Siddiqui," Malik said, referring an Indian woman who claims he married her "by telephone" in 2002 and that she possesses documents to prove their alliance. In an interview with The Times of India, Malik said he began a telephone relationship with Siddiqui in 2001 after she sent him photographs. He and his family repeatedly made attempts to meet Siddiqui as he wanted to marry her but she always refused, he said. Malik admitted to the newspaper that in 2002 that he signed a "nikahnama" (wedding agreement) "thinking the girl I was marrying was the one in the photographs." But "the girl who was accepting the proposal was someone else. That's cheating," he said, without giving further deta

Pakistan cricket star Shoaib Malik has said here today that he has come India for his marriage ceremony which would be held here on April 15 and after that he would take his bride to his home. He said this while talking with media here outside the residence of his would-be wife. On this occasion, he handed to the media a written statement on the controversies overshadowing the overall marriage celebrations. When asked about the wedding preparations, Malik retorted ‘Media is showing even our dances; nothing is hidden.’ The wedding preparations are well afoot, he added. On a query regarding Sania’s future in sports, he said Sania will keep on playing tennis as long as she wants to, adding she will play from India as Indian player. Responding a question on wedding with Ayesha Siddiqui, Malik said he has written whatever he has to say, adding his counsel will talk to media on the issue. He added Sania knows every bit of the situation.

The Pakistani barrister hired by Shoaib Malik's alleged first wife Ayesha Siddiqui will file a case against the cricketer, who has been accused of marrying and dumping her without a formal divorce. Barrister Farooq Hassan claimed that Ayesha's father Ahmed Siddiqui contacted him from India through telephone and asked him to file a case against Malik. Hassan said that he will be deciding in a few days on what grounds and under which law should he file a case against Malik. Ayesha and her family have claimed that Malik married her and is now refusing to accept her as his lawful wife and they only want him to publicly give her a divorce before marrying Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. Television channels also reported that Ayesha's family had sent Malik a legal notice but Hassan said he was not aware of this. "I don't know anything about this but all I can say is in next few days I will be deciding on what to do in Ayesha's case," he said. The Barrister has al