Iqbal cautions colleague against using religion card

'Politely' urges colleague to refrain from 'playing on Imran's wicket'

LAHORE:

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal condemned his fellow cabinet colleague, Javed Latif, for his remarks against former prime minister Imran Khan at a press conference, saying that the religion card should not be used against political opponents.

In a carefully-worded tweet, Iqbal, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), reacted to Latif’s remarks, which drew public criticism for inciting hatred against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman.

“Javed Latif is my colleague but I will say politely if Imran is playing the religion card then we should not play on his wicket he has to compete with politics he has nothing to show,” Iqbal said. “I have a bullet of hate in my body that prevents me from using the religious card to humiliate my opponents in politics.”

PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz also spoke against using the religion card in politics. However, her focus was on criticising Imran Khan for using religion cards against her party and stopped short of even mentioning Javed Latif.