Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik has slammed the Indian media for peddling fake news about his extradition to India.
Naik who is currently in Malaysia is facing various charges, including for hate speech and money laundering through the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) that he founded.
In a video posted on Facebook, Naik named leading Indian media houses and said:
Naming a leading english channel, Naik says the channel tried to corroborate the fake news with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit saying Modi visited Malaysia to deport him.
Naik goes on to blame the channels and newspapers for hounding him for the past two years and for publishing news against him.
Naik claims that even when the Dhaka based newspaper retracted the story, the Indian channels kept hounding him.
Citing the Quran, Naik said that Allah says whatever information you get, check it up before you pass it on.
“Therefore I request all the viewers/readers, check it up before you get convinced or pass it on,” he added.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had earlier said on 5 July, “We had made a formal request for extradition of Zakir Naik, an Indian national living in Malaysia. It was made as per the extradition treaty we have in place with Malaysia. At this stage, all I can say is that our request is under active consideration of the Malaysian authorities.”
(With inputs from news agencies)
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