NEW DELHI – Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on Wednesday denied reports ofhis return to India, terming them baseless and false. Zakir, who has beenstaying abroad to evade arrest in various cases in India, said he has noplans to come back to his home country until he feels safe from unfairprosecution.
“The news of my coming to India is totally baseless and false. I have noplans to come to India till I don’t feel safe from unfair prosecution.Insha Allah when I feel that the government will be just and fair, I willsurely return to my homeland,” the religious preacher was quoted as sayingby news agency ANI.
Earlier today, several reports claimed that Zakir was deported to Indiafrom Malaysia. However, the reports have been turned down by NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA) spokesperson Alok Mittal too. “We have no suchinformation as of now. We are verifying it,” Mittal said.
Zakir Naik’s statement comes after media reports claim his possible returnto the country quoting Malaysian government sources.
Naik is facing various cases, including for hate speech and moneylaundering, in India and has been staying abroad to evade arrest. Though hefaces a ban in the UK, he has been given permanent residency in Malaysiaand has been embraced by top government officials.
The Islamic preacher left India in 2016 and since then has been staying inMalaysia’s Putrajaya.
According to Rashaad Ali, an analyst with S Rajaratnam School ofInternational Studies (RSIS) in Singapore, the Malaysian governmentaccommodates Naik because “he remains a reasonably popular characteramongst Malays, who gloss over his more controversial aspects.”
“If the government were to kick him out of the country, it causes them tolose religious credibility in the eyes of the public.”
Critics see Naik’s presence in Malaysia as another sign of top-levelsupport for hardline Islam in a country with substantial minorities ofChristians, Hindus and Buddhists, and which has long projected a moderateIslamic image.
Naik, a 52-year-old medical doctor, embroiled himself in controversy withhis puritan brand of Islam – recommending the death penalty for homosexualsand those who abandon Islam as their faith, according to media reports. AYoutube video shows Naik saying that if Osama bin Laden “is terrorizingAmerica the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him”.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had first registered a case againstthe 51-year-old Naik under anti-terror laws in 2016 for allegedly promotingenmity between different religious groups.
The NIA and Mumbai Police, subsequently, had also carried out searches at10 places in Mumbai including residential premises of some of the officebearers of the foundation run by Naik. The foundation was earlier put onthe restricted list by the Home Ministry for receiving funds from abroad.