Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is on a visit to India. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday. After meeting PM Modi, when the Malaysian Prime Minister was asked about controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, he answered on Naik’s extradition.
During a program organized at the Indian Council of World Affairs, when Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim was asked about the extradition of Zakir Naik, who is living in Malaysia, he said that if sufficient evidence is provided against Naik, then action will be taken on it. However, he said that the relations between the two countries should not be affected by this issue.
PM Ibrahim said that this matter has not been raised by India. Prime Minister Modi had raised this matter earlier. But I am not talking about a person here. I am talking about extremism. Our government will welcome all evidence submitted in the case of Zakir Naik. We are working together with the Indian government to deal with terrorism.
Let us tell you that Zakir Naik was given permission to stay permanently in Malaysia during the government of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.
What are the allegations against Zakir Naik?
Zakir Naik is accused of giving inflammatory speeches, money laundering and promoting terrorism in India. In May 2019, the ED filed a chargesheet against Zakir Naik in the terror funding case. In this chargesheet, it was told that the agency has so far identified assets worth Rs 193 crore, out of which assets worth more than Rs 50 crore have been seized.
ED had claimed that between 2003-04 and 2016-17, Zakir Naik had received funding of Rs 64 crore from unknown and suspicious sources. Most of these funds were used to organize ‘Peace Conference’. The agency had also said that between 2012 and 2016, Zakir Naik had also received Rs 49.20 crore. This amount came into Naik’s UAE bank account.
Earlier in October 2017, the NIA had also filed a chargesheet. In this chargesheet, the NIA had accused Zakir Naik of giving provocative speeches and inciting the youth. It was said in the chargesheet that the youth are getting influenced by watching Zakir Naik’s videos and some of them are also joining terrorist organizations. Overall, Zakir Naik is accused of promoting radicalism.
Peace TV and Islamic Research Foundation
Zakir Naik started the Islamic Research Foundation in 1990. Naik used to call it an NGO, but he used to get funding through it. The Home Ministry had first banned this foundation in 2016. Later in March this year, this ban was extended for another five years.
Zakir Naik had also started a Peace TV on which he used to give speeches. This channel was broadcast from Dubai. On this channel Naik used to give such speeches that influenced the youth and they turned towards fundamentalism.
How did Zakir Naik come into the limelight?
Zakir Naik was born in 1965 in Dongri, Mumbai. His father and both brothers were doctors. Naik also studied medicine and became a doctor. In 1990, he left his medical profession and started the Islamic Research Foundation.
By the year 2000, Zakir Naik started getting into the news. Debates started taking place on his videos. Zakir Naik used to say that Islam is superior and great than all other religions. His supporters also call him an expert on Islam. After that, he started Peace TV English. Then he also launched it in Urdu and Bengali languages. This channel of Zakir Naik has been banned by many countries including India and Bangladesh, because through this he instigates the youth.
Zakir Naik once reportedly said, ‘If Osama bin Laden is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am with him. Even if he is fighting the biggest terrorist America, I stand with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.’ However, Zakir Naik claimed that his statement was misrepresented.
Zakir Naik came into the news in July 2016 when a bomb blast took place in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. One of the attackers had said that he was influenced by Zakir Naik’s videos. Zakir Naik fled India a few months after the Dhaka attack.
After this, the strings of the bomb blasts that took place on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka in April 2019 were also linked to Zakir Naik. More than 260 people died in these blasts. The National Thowheeth Jamaath took responsibility for these blasts. The head of this organization, Zehran Hashim, praised Zakir Naik and asked Sri Lankan Muslims what they could do for him?
