Aug 20, 2024 09:35 PM IST
Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s presence in Malaysia had become a major irritant in bilateral relations in recent years
New Delhi: The extradition from Malaysia of controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik was not raised by the Indian side and this issue shouldn’t deter the two countries from enhancing bilateral relations, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday.
Naik’s presence in Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency by the previous government led by Mahathir Mohamed, had become a major irritant in bilateral relations in recent years. India had on several occasions demanded the extradition of Naik, who has been wanted since 2016 for alleged involvement in money laundering and inciting extremism.
While responding to a question on the case of Naik during an interaction at the Indian Council of World Affairs, Ibrahim indicated his government would be willing to consider any evidence submitted by India against the preacher.
“Firstly, it was not raised by the [Indian side], Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] did raise it much earlier, some years back. But the issue is I’m not talking about one person, I’m talking about the sentiment of extremism, of a compelling case and evidence that suggest the atrocities committed by an individual or group or faction or parties,” Ibrahim said.
The Malaysian side is “open to any ideas and evidence submitted”, he said without going into details.
“We will not condone terrorism…We have been tough and we have been working together with India on many of these issues, against terrorism. But I don’t think this one case should deter us from further collaboration and enhancing our bilateral cooperation,” Ibrahim said.
After leaving India, Naik initially travelled to Saudi Arabia before moving to Malaysia.
During the same event, Ibrahim was scathing in his criticism of Israel’s offensive in Gaza that has killed some 40,000 Palestinian civilians and what he described as the “sheer hypocrisy” of the West.
“The atrocities of Israeli forces in Gaza – that’s real, killing 40,000 people. That is an atrocity,” he said.
“We must give a very clear message that this hypocrisy must end. You can’t talk about genocide in Ukraine because of the bombing of some villages, and 40,000 people killed [in Gaza as] the impact of war and you can condone that,” he said while responding to a question from a Palestinian diplomat.
“This is shocking and I call it sheer hypocrisy. It is long-standing but it has to end. It doesn’t matter whether the victims are Muslims or Christians or Hindus or Buddhists or whatever. They’re human beings and in this age for us [to say] that ‘I’m sorry, nothing can be done’, is atrocious,” Ibrahim said.
“There is no right for any country, for whatever reason, to conquer, control, dispossess any other society or country. Why [make] an exception for Palestine and Gaza?” he added.
