Ex-PTI leader comes down hard on minister

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader, Sajid Ishaq, sharply reacted to the uttering of the Federal Minister for Statistics, Kamran Michael, in which he criticised the emerging leaders from the Christian community, particularly targeting him for exploiting religious platform for political gains.

“First of all I was not expelled from the party. Instead, I stepped down from the office of the ‘Central President of PTI Minority Wing’, to which I was elected in 2013, because of policy issues and not for any personal gains. Neither have I joined any other political party as yet,” Sajid Ishaq said.

“As far as using the religions platform for political gains, the allegations are actually the other way round. It was Kamran Michael who fully and unashamedly used the Church for political purposes when he invited the Maryam Safdar, the daughter of the disqualified Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, to address the Christian community from the stage of St. Anthony’s cathedral to win support of the Christian community for the NA-120 seat,” Sajid Ishaq pointed out.

He said that the use of Church for political gains was widely criticized by the Christian community, who were not pleased with Mr Kamran Michael for using the Church for political purposes. “The reaction against use of Church for political purposes was so strong that eventually the Church had to issue a statement clarifying its position in the matter,” Sajid Ishaq pointed out.

“Similarly, it is Kamran Michael who is quite often appearing at the religious ceremonies and prayers on TV shows, which are purely of religious importance and used those appearances to push his political agenda,” the ex-PTI leader said.

He said that being the federal minister for statistics, instead of doing any service to the Christian community in Pakistan, he has back-stabbed them by not being able to complete the census survey of the Christians in the country.

“If he can conduct the census of the transgender community in Pakistan, what held him back from conducting the census of Christian community? His own community to which he represents in the Federal Cabinet! I want to make it clear here that I have nothing against transgender community and I respect their sensitivities “ demanded Sajid Ishaq.

“I will advise Kamran Michael not to indulge in nasty politics of mudslinging and hurling baseless allegations, show some decency and instead focus on working for the uplift and improvement of the community,” Sajid Ishaq said.