Zakir Naik has cancelled his return to India from Saudi Arabia and will reportedly tour some African countries in the coming weeks.
The controversial Islamic preacher is being investigated by a host of agencies in India over allegations of his ‘radicalising influence’.
He was scheduled to brief the press on his return to Mumbai on Monday, but then planned a media conference over Skype, reports the Firstpost.
He then cancelled the Skype call.
As for the investigations against him in his homeland, he said: “So far not a single official of the Indian government has contacted me for any clarification regarding this issue.
“It would be my pleasure to cooperate with any official from any Indian agency for any information they might require from me,” he said in a statement.
The Firstpost quoted a source close to the preacher to say that he will leave for the African continent for ‘prescheduled engagements’.
After the deadly attack on a Gulshan cafe left 20 hostages dead, at least two of the attackers were found to be Naik’s followers on social media.
The Bangladesh government ordered Peace TV off air and from online sites in the aftermath of the deadly attack, joining Muslim-majority Malaysia who banned the channel broadcast in English, Urdu and Bangla from Dubai.
The 50-year-old is barred from entering Canada and UK due to his ‘unacceptable behaviour’ since 2010.
The preacher is also blamed for inspiring several Indian youths to join Islamic State’s battle in Syria.
Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said a ‘thorough investigation’ has been launched against Naik.
He said the Indian government will “not make any compromises in matters of terrorism.”
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) has demanded action saying he was a ‘threat to national security’.
Nine teams from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and other agencies are scanning Naik’s activities, while special teams are scanning his speeches.
Besides those, his social media accounts and funding for his Mumbai-based charity foundation, Islamic Research Centre, which owns Peace TV will also go under the scanner, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told PTI.
Naik speaking to Indian media in a WhatsApp video after the Dhaka attack said he was not surprised that the killers knew him because ‘he inspires millions around the world’.
He said he was however “shocked to learn that 4 million of his 14 million Facebook followers were from Bangladesh.”
He ‘totally disagreed’ that he inspired the young gunmen in Dhaka. “There is not a single talk of mine where I encouraged one to kill another, whether Muslim or non-Muslim,” he said in a statement.
Source: bdnews24