Islamic preacher Zakir Naik told reporters via video conference that he won’t be returning to India this year.
Holding his much-postponed press conference in a small hall in the South Central neighbourhood of Mazgaon this morning, Naik denounced the attacks on him for allegedly supporting terrorism. “I did not inspire any terrorist,” he said. Pointing out to reports from Bangladeshi newspapers, Naik said publications in that country also denied reports that one of the terrorists who struck at a cafe in Dhaka was inspired by him.
Addressing reporters via Skype, Naik called himself a “messenger of peace”. He started off by condemning the terror attack in France’s Nice this morning. “Attacks on innocent people are haraam in Islam,” Naik said and quoted from the Koran. He condemned suicide bombings claiming lives of innocent people. “However, some religious scholars say suicide bombing is permissible as a tactic in the battlefield during war,” he said.
Naik went on to say that he has never supported any terrorist act. “Show me any unedited footage where I have not condemned suicide bombings,” Naik asked reporters. He said no investigating agency from India had so far approached him. “I am willing to cooperate with any agency if they approach me,” he said.
The doctor-turned-preacher blamed the media for, what he called a disinformation campaign against himself, his Islamic Research Foundation and Peace TV run by it. He dismissed calls for a ban on Peace TV saying it could not be banned since it was not given a licence to downlink in India in the first place. “We applied for permission to downlink the channel in 2008, but it was denied since it was Islamic,” Naik said.
Naik said he had never met any terrorist intentionally.
Holding his much-postponed press conference in a small hall in the South Central neighbourhood of Mazgaon this morning, Naik denounced the attacks on him for allegedly supporting terrorism. “I did not inspire any terrorist,” he said. Pointing out to reports from Bangladeshi newspapers, Naik said publications in that country also denied reports that one of the terrorists who struck at a cafe in Dhaka was inspired by him.
Addressing reporters via Skype, Naik called himself a “messenger of peace”. He started off by condemning the terror attack in France’s Nice this morning. “Attacks on innocent people are haraam in Islam,” Naik said and quoted from the Koran. He condemned suicide bombings claiming lives of innocent people. “However, some religious scholars say suicide bombing is permissible as a tactic in the battlefield during war,” he said.
Naik went on to say that he has never supported any terrorist act. “Show me any unedited footage where I have not condemned suicide bombings,” Naik asked reporters. He said no investigating agency from India had so far approached him. “I am willing to cooperate with any agency if they approach me,” he said.
The doctor-turned-preacher blamed the media for, what he called a disinformation campaign against himself, his Islamic Research Foundation and Peace TV run by it. He dismissed calls for a ban on Peace TV saying it could not be banned since it was not given a licence to downlink in India in the first place. “We applied for permission to downlink the channel in 2008, but it was denied since it was Islamic,” Naik said.
Naik said he had never met any terrorist intentionally.
