After a short silence following the backlash over his ‘political interventions’ in Malaysia, so-called Islamic preacher Zakir Naik is back again.
This time, he is officially seeking Malaysian citizenship, this according to a report by Press Trust India.
Zakir who is wanted in India over money-laundering and terror-related charges is dismantling the not so ‘Peace Tv” network in India to relocate in Malaysia.
This, according to sources, will involve massive money transfers from Dubai and India.
The Malaysian government, denying it granted citizenship to Zakir, admitted it granted permanent residence to the latter after pressures from activists in Malaysia.
Zakir is, according to sources, an important piece of the puzzle in Malaysia’s upcoming elections.
The other major piece of the puzzle is the Islamists from the Parti Islam se-Malaysia joining the Umno in the fight against the opposition in the country.
Zakir made it clear in his last controversial appearance in a public lecture that the Malays should choose the lesser evil, calling the opposition the greater evil that has aligned itself with the non-Muslims in Malaysia.
He also suggested that an opposition win in Malaysia would mean the non-Muslims would take power in the country.
PTI said the Indian government planned to use its diplomatic channels to frustrate attempts by Naik to get citizenship in any country.
Naik is said to have been changing his base frequently after theNational Investigation Agency (NIA) contacted Interpol to issue a red corner notice against him, which would mean that police in any country would be obliged to detain him.
Naik is believed to be shuttling between the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and African and Southeast Asian countries (Malaysia in particular).
After accusations of preaching terror, Naik fled India.
His Peace TV was taken off the air in Bangladesh and India after the terror attack in Dhaka in which 22 people, mostly foreigners, were killed.
At least one of the attackers had said he was a follower of Zakir’s Peace Tv.
Naik’s presence in Malaysia has divided Malaysians of various ethnicities and caused disunity, said PTI.
Zakir has defended his refusal to go back to India on the basis that Muslims were being tortured to death in the country.