New Delhi, Oct 4 :
With radical Islamic preacher and Indian fugitive Zakir Naik receiving a red-carpet welcome in Pakistan and even meeting with the Pakistani leadership, India on Friday termed it disappointing and condemnable but said that it is not surprised.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, addressing the weekly briefing, said: “We are not surprised that a fugitive from Indian justice has received a high-level welcome in Pakistan. It is disappointing and condemnable, but not surprising.”
He added that they don’t know what passport Naik used to travel to Pakistan, where he is delivering a series of lectures on Islam in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.
The spokesperson added that the issue of extradition of Zakir Naik was addressed during the visit of Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim to India in August.
Coincidentally, the Malaysian PM was visiting Islamabad yesterday and held talks with the Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif.
Naik, who fled India in 2016, faces charges in India of spreading hatred, money laundering and terrorism.
In 2016, after the July 1 terror attack in a popular Dhaka café in which 20 people were killed, Bangladesh had banned Naik’s Peace TV for its inflammatory content, as two of the café attackers used to follow Naik on social media.
At the time, most of Naik’s 14 million followers on Facebook were from Bangladesh.
Giving information about his upcoming Pakistani tour, Naik on September 20, 2024, had in an update posted on his official Facebook page said he is visiting Pakistan “on the invitation of the Government of Pakistan”.
His tour began on October 5 in Karachi and is set to concluded in Islamabad on October 20.
His son, Fariq Naik, also an Islamic scholar, has joined him on the tour, delivering lectures in all three cities.
Naik stays in Malaysia, and India continues to pursue his extradition from there.
Last month, Naik took to social media to exhort Indian Muslims to reject the Waqf Bill, to which Union Minister Kiren Rijiju warned him on social media against interfering in the Waqf Amendment Bill Debate.
He was granted permanent residency in Malaysia by the previous government led by Mahathir Mohamed.
He met Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif on October 2 during which the Pakistani PM told Naik that his lectures are “highly insightful and impactful”.
In August, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reportedly said that Malaysia will consider India’s request to extradite Zakir Naik if evidence of the controversial televangelist’s extremism is provided.
