Islamic preacher Zakir Naik will not be sent back to India : Malaysian PM

In a setback to Indian Government, controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik who has been living in Malaysia will not be deported by the Malaysian government.

News agency ANI quoted The Strait Times mentioning that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that Zakir Naik will not be sent back to India.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said that Zakir Naik will not be sent back to India: The Strait Times (file pic) pic.twitter.com/HqKMItTk09

— ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2018

India’s request to extradite controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is under “active consideration” of the Malaysian authorities, the government had said.

“We had made a formal request for extradition of Zakir Naik, an Indian national living in Malaysia. It was made as per the extradition treaty we have in place with Malaysia,” External Affairs Ministry (MEA) Spokesman Raveesh Kumar had said on Thursday.

Naik is facing various charges, including for hate speech and money laundering through Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) that he founded.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had first registered a case against the evangelist under anti-terror laws in 2016 for promoting enmity between religious groups.

On Wednesday, Naik in a statement had said that he had no plans to come to India till he felt safe from “unfair prosecution”.

“When I feel that the government will be just and fair, I will surely return to my homeland,” he has said.

Published on: July 6, 2018 at 14:20 IST

By EP Web Desk

(With Inputs From IANS)