I didn't hug instructor: Pak minister

PLEAD INNOCENCE: The instructor cam forward to give her a pat after the flight, said Nilofer Bakhtiar.

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New Delhi: Talking on the hugging controversy, Pakistan Tourism Minister Nilofer Bakhtiar on Friday said, “I did not hug the French instructor, he cam forward to give me a pat after the flight”.

However, photos in the Pakistani media have shown Bakhtiar being helped by a male instructor during a charity parachute jump in France last month to raise money for victims of the devastating October 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

Another picture shows a woman – apparently Bakhtiar – hugging the instructor.

Two clerics at Islamabad's Red Mosque, in reaction to the media report, issued a fatwa demanding her dismissal, two days after setting up a court to deliver Islamic justice in a bold challenge to President General Pervez Musharraf.

Reacting on the fatwa, Bakhtiar said, “I never took the fatwa seriously,” adding, “Who are the clerics to ask me a question”.

“I see this incident as a part of my movement for women emancipation,” she said.

Talking on the issue of alleged deal with Benazir Bhutto, Bakhtiar expressed her ignorance on the report that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto have struck a deal, under which Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will first support the Musharraf`s re-election by the present assemblies, which will be endorsed by the new houses after the general elections.

“I am not aware of such a deal,” said Bkhtiar adding, “Benazir Bhutto is free to come back but will have to face charges”.

Justifying the conversation between Musharraf and Bhutto, she said, “It is normal for the government to maintain contacts with political parties and their leaders”.

“I feel that Benazir and Nawaj Sharif should both come back,” she added.