Preacher Zakir Naik should be expelled over religious remarks, say Malaysian ministers

Three Malaysian ministers have demanded for an Islamic preacher from India to be expelled from the multi-ethnic nation for allegedly making religiously sensitive remarks, as cabinet discussed his permanent residency on Wednesday.

Zakir Naik, 53, who has lived in Malaysia for about three years and faces charges of money laundering and hate speech in India, recently came under fire for commenting that Hindus in the country had “100 times more rights” than the Muslim minority in India.

Race and religion are sensitive issues in Malaysia, where Muslims make up about 60 per cent of its 32 million people. The rest of the population consists mostly of ethnic Chinese as well as Indians, the majority of whom are Hindus.

Malaysia-based Islamic preacher Zakir Naik says he has not broken any law

The ministers said Naik’s comments may have been aimed at driving a wedge between Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia, an allegation that Naik denied.

“We have expressed our position, which is that action must be taken and that Zakir Naik should no longer be allowed to remain in Malaysia,” Gobind Singh Deo, minister of communications and multimedia, said in a statement.

“The prime minister has taken note of our concerns. We leave it to him to consider the position and to decide soonest possible what will be done to deal with the problem,” he added.

M Kulasegaran, minister of human resources, and Xavier Jayakumar, minister of water, land and natural resources, also released statements urging Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to expel Naik.

Naik, who has repeatedly rejected the charges against him in India, said his detractors were quoting him out of context to malign him.

“My praise of the Malaysian government for its Islamic and fair treatment of Hindu minorities is being twisted and misquoted to suit political gains and create communal rifts,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Malaysian state news agency Bernama quoted Mahathir as saying on Tuesday that Naik cannot be sent back to India due to fears for his safety.

“If any [other] country wants to have him, they are welcome,” Mahathir said.

Who is Zakir Naik, the Islamic televangelist India’s chasing and Malaysia’s loathe to give up?

India banned Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation in late 2016, accusing him of encouraging and aiding its followers to “promote or attempt to promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religious communities and groups”.

Naik, a doctor by training, has been controversial because of his puritan brand of Islam – recommending the death penalty for homosexuals and those who abandon Islam as their faith, according to media reports.

In a clip on YouTube, Naik says that if Osama bin Laden “is terrorising America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him”.

Bangladesh suspended a television channel that featured his preachings after media reported that militants who attacked a Dhaka cafe killing 22 people last year were admirers of him.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

Britain banned Naik from entering in 2010.