South Asian Business news and information

This is the feeling I got about Sania Shoaib Wedding as it is stealing all the attention for the wrong reasons. Now, it is competing with IPL season 3 as far as catching media attention is concerned. I remember that 3 years ago, the wedding of Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan caused similar kind of sensation and people were crazy for many days about it. Now, the same thing is happening. The presence of the first wife of Shoaib Malik in the same city that Sania Mirza lives added the perfect twist in the saga and it just made the wedding even more interesting to the mass people.

Of course, there is the political element as Shiv Sena is strongly against this marriage as they consider Pakistan an enemy country and Shoaib Malik is a Pakistani cricketer. The ruling Congress Party has come forward to support Sania and their leaders felt that it was matter of personal freedom for her.

Sania Mirza also faced criticism from some Muslims clerics for another reason:

In a statement issued on Thursday, Mufti Ashraf Farooqui from the Fatwa department of Deoband, roundly lambasted the couple for their "unacceptable behaviour''. The kind of proximity shared publicly by Sania Mirza and Shoaib before their marriage is un-Islamic and therefore "haram'', the mufti ruled. "It is against the tenets of religion and also culture which has always put high premium on restraint.''

Islam, the mufti ruled, unequivocally prohibits free mixing between opposite sex. The kind of intimacy Saina has developed -- they are living under the same roof -- is highly objectionable. "Nikah ke pahle tanhai mein milna, batein karna, ghoomna-phirna, Islam mein haram hai (Islam bans meeting in isolation, going around and talking before marriage),'' he said. The couple, therefore, need to rectify their behaviour, he said.  

Ayesha Siddiqui was the first wife of Shoaib Malik and she deserves some kind of sympathy at least. Shoaib Malik married her by telephone before and then pretended that nothing happened. Her family tried to get a divorce from Malik and Malik at first refused that he was even married to her. Then, there was complaint filed to the police and a new drama started. Malik in the end accepted that Ayesha was his first wife and agreed to give divorce to her. This headline: Clerics divided over validity of Shoaib-Ayesha divorce perhaps tells us that Ayesha will still continue to be in the media headlines for some days more.

Opinions are however not divided in Pakistan. There, people are very happy that they are getting a very beautiful Indian tennis player as their bride.

Sania Shoaib wedding has attracted a lot of attention and now, many people will be interested to see whether the marriage becomes successful or not. Any problem in this marriage be it so small, will be covered with interest by the media.