Will act against Dr. Naik if India gives “incontrovertible evidence”: Anwar Ibrahim

KAULA LUMPUR: Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Member of the Malaysian Parliament on Wednesday said that the country will act on “incontrovertible evidence” against religious preacher Dr. Zakir Naik.

In an exclusive interview to The Hindu, the leader of the Parti Keadilan Rakyar Party of Malaysia, said that India so far had provided no formal evidence.

“[The Naik case] has not been raised with me personally. We do not subscribe to all allegations unless we are furnished with the details. We would need some evidence. Malaysia has been tough on terrorism and if we are given incontrovertible evidence that someone has been involved we would not tolerate it,” Mr. Ibrahim, who is currently in India on a five-day visit, told the newspaper adding that the government would not act “purely on a request.”

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52-year-old Dr. Naik reportedly left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has registered a case against Naik with charges of inciting communal disharmony and committing unlawful activities in India and has sent a request for his extradition to the new Malaysian government which came to power in May.

But the new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said, “As long as he is not creating any problem, we will not deport him because he has been given permanent residency status,” said the Malaysian PM.