Malaysia – India’s controversial Islamic preacher Dr. Zakir Naik claimed in a video on Saturday that Indian Government offered him a “safe-passage” to India if he speaks in favor of abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, for which he refused “flatly”.
54-year-old Doctor who has been in self-imposed exile in Malaysia since 2016, claimed that an envoy along with Indian officials met him for a private meeting and said he was coming following “direct instructions” from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, and he (envoy) wants to remove “misconceptions and miscommunication” between him and the Indian government and offered him a safe passage to India.
“Indian officials approached me for a private meeting with a representative from the Indian government”, Naik said.
Naik mentioned that the representative wanted him to support the BJP government on the revoking of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, which was done in August.
“I flatly refused; I said,…’revoking Article 370 in Kashmir is unconstitutional and it is taking away the rights of the people of Kashmir’. I cannot support an act of injustice and neither can I betray the people of Kashmir,” Naik said.
The news about India’s offer to Naik came to limelight after an American Islamist preacher Dr. Yasir Qadhi posted about it on his Facebook post praising Naik for being a “true scholar” who doesn’t sell his religion for material gains.
“The BJP government sent Dr Zakir an envoy saying that if he supported Modi’s campaign against Kashmir the government would drop all charges and reinstate his assets and allow him to return to India. This shows that there is no real case against him and it’s all politically motivated,” Qadhi wrote.
Naik also mentioned that the private meeting lasted for several hours.
Naik claimed that the officials said they had “no problem” if he speaks against any government agency such as NIA, police or Enforcement Directorate. But he should not speak against BJP government and Narendra Modi specifically.
Naik then criticized the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and condemned the Indian Muslim leaders and representatives who support National Register of Citizens. He doubted that these Muslim leaders might have been blackmailed or pressurized by the BJP government to support the “unjust act”, and they are “bartering their place in paradise for security in this world”.
