The Malaysian government has withdrawn the state cover being provided to controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik who is wanted in India for his alleged involvement in terror activities and inciting youngsters to commit terror acts through his hate speech, news channel Times Now reported.
“I have been informed that Zakir Naik was given PR (permanent residency) by the previous administration. So the issue now, if he is PR, just like any of us we are still subject to the law. If you do something which is not according to the law, whether if you involve in issues of religion, crime, whatever it is, you can’t be spared. We have to deal with it in accordance with the law. This is what rule of law is all about,” the channel quoted Malaysia Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as saying.
PM Modi had during his May 31 meeting with Malaysian counterpart Mahathir Mohamad in Kuala Lumpur raised the issue of Naik’s extradition. The re-election of Mohamad as Malaysian PM on May 10 has raised hopes of Naik’s extradition as he has been overturning many decisions by his predecessor Najib Razak.
The MEA on Wednesday confirmed that in January, a formal request to Malaysia to deport Naik was made through diplomatic channels. Citing sources, PTI reported that the MEA was yet to receive any official confirmation from the Malaysian authorities regarding its deportation request.However, the MEA has released an official statement confirming his extradition. Raveesh Kumar was reported as saying,
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Naik is accused of giving provocative speeches, which were cited as a reason by Bangladesh for an attack in Dhaka which left 22 people dead.India’s National Investigation Agency is also probing Naik’s NGO, Islamic Research Foundation, over allegations of money laundering and promoting ‘unlawful’ activities.
He was given permanent residency status in Malaysia by the previous Barisan Nasional government