In a boost to India, Malaysia’s Minister of Human Resources M Kala Segaran has gone against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad’s decision to not deport controversial preacher Zakir Naik.
Issue of Zakir Naik was raised in last Cabinet Meeting. Let Indian government make the necessary deportation order and we will follow rule of law, but bottom line was that the Indian government must make that request,” Segaran told ANI.
Saying that the matter was to be decided by courts and not the government, Segaran added, “This is the right way of doing things, it is not right for the government nor one man to decide this matter, it should be decided by law in the courts as they have the duty to dispense justice.”
Naik had on Thursday thanked Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad for not deporting him and promised not to break any laws of the country.
India had made a formal extradition request for Naik, who left the country in 2016, to be returned to the country after accusing him of inciting youngsters to commit terror activities through his hate speeches.
Naik, 52, in a statement published in Malaysian newspapers, thanked Prime Minister Mahathir for examining his case from an "unbiased perspective".
Mahathir, who had met the radical Indian cleric last week, has made it clear that his government will not easily give in to India's demand to deport Naik.
"We do not easily follow the demands of others. We must look at all factors before we respond," Mahathir was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times.
"Otherwise, someone will become a victim," the prime minister said in his first public comment yesterday on Naik since meeting with the hardline preacher.
Naik is being probed under terror and money laundering charges by India's National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The NIA had first registered a case against Naik under anti-terror laws in 2016 for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups.
Naik is also under investigation for issuing hate speeches that inspired a deadly terror attack on a popular cafe in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh in 2016.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Zakir Naik")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}