Invitation has been extended to the Pakistan President General Musharraf and his wife Sehba by Sidrat Ansari, the son of eminent former parliamentarian Hayat Ullah Ansari to include Lucknow in their itinerary and renew the old bonds of friendship. Begum Sehba had expressed her desire to visit Lucknow in a recent interview with a Pakistani newspaper. “We are prepared to give them a Lucknavi welcome if they decide to visit the city,” Sidrat Ansari told reporters.
According to Ansari, the General's father, Syed Musharrafuddin was a childhood friend of his father and he along with his wife, Begum Zarri had visited them in 1987 in Delhi during his marriage ceremony. The invitation has been extended through Union Home Minister L K Advani and the Pakistan Embassy, and a reply is awaited, he added.
Saying that Syed Musharrafuddin and his maternal grandmother were real brother and sister, Ansari said that his father and General's father had also been class-fellows. He said he and his family were looking forward to the visit of the Pakistani first couple. Bureau Report