Zakir Naik’s toxic claim: Hindus in India love me!

Zakir Naik, the radical Islamic preacher wanted by India in several criminal cases said at a lecture in Oman that a majority of Hindus in India love him.

He made the remarks while speaking at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre on Thursday.

"The problem is that the majority of Hindus in India love me. They love me so much that it is creating a problem for the vote bank. When I deliver talks and hold meetings in India, there are hundreds of people. 50 million to 100 million, especially in Bihar and Kishanganj. Out of this 20 per cent are non-Muslims," Zakir Naik said according to reports.

He further said, "when they talk to me, they say, Zakir Bhai, what we learnt in the last two hours, we have not learnt after 40 hours of lectures on our religion."

Speaking about how a Sikh judge had found nothing objectionable in his speeches, Naik said,"in 2018, Justin Manmohan Singh, who headed the Appellate Tribunal for Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in New Delhi, had restrained the ED from taking over Zakir Naik's properties attached by the agency. The judge also drew a parallel between Naik and self-styled spiritual leader, Asaram Bapu."

"Allhamdulillah, the judge in the Indian was a Sikh. Fortunately he had seen many of my talks. He asked the lawyer to point out one statement of Zakir Naik, in any lecture, where he promotes terrorism. If you do, I will attach all his property," Naik quoted the judge as saying.

He also said that he could name 10 Babas who have properties worth over Rs 10,000 crore each.

"Are they facing criminal cases? Have you acted against even one of them? What have you done to Asaram Bapu," Naik asked.

One Twitter user had shared that during his Muscat lecture, he had converted an Indian Hindu woman to Islam. He made her read some lines from the Quran and asked her to repeat after him. These videos have gone viral on the social media, and their authenticity cannot be verified.

Government on deportation:

Earlier this week, many news outlets had reported that the Indian government is in talks with the government in Oman to have Zakir Naik, wanted in cases relating to terrorism deported to India.

On Friday, the Ministry of External Affairs said that it would take all necessary actions to bring back the radical Islamic preacher to India and put him on trial

Naik who currently lives in Malaysia had fled India in 2016, following a ban on his outfit, the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF). Naik was also named in an FIR for radicalisation and preaching terrorism.

In 2019, he was banned by Malaysia from delivering public speeches.

Naik's name has cropped up several times during probes by the ED and National Investigation Agency (NIA). Recently the main accused in the Mangaluru blast case, Mohammad Shariq said that he was influenced and radicalised by Naik's videos posted online. Post the seizure of his phone, the Karnataka Police had found videos of Naik in them.

Naik has also been accused of instigating the 2016 Dhaka bombing which killed 20 persons. His name had even cropped up following the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter Bombings, which claimed 250 lives.