Review of Zakir Naik's speeches shows no terrorism: Zahid (Updated)

KUALA LUMPUR: The government is satisfied that controversial preacher Dr Zakir Naik does not promote terrorism, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
Zahid, who is also the Home Minister said, it drew the conclusion after the ministry had gone through all the videos and transcript of speeches made by Zakir, both locally and overseas.
He added allegations of Zakir promoting hate speech might be due to his words being taken out of context.
"We have gone through all of his speeches and none of them was found to be promoting terrorism," he said.
"The interpretation (of promoting terrorism) was made by several figures overseas. The incident in Dhaka was a perception of that country," he told parliament yesterday while replying to points raised during the debate on the budget.
The controversial preacher is being sought by India for alleged link to terrorism, including a terror attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh, last year that had left scores of people dead.
In April, Zahid had confirmed that the government has granted permanent resident status to Zakir five years ago.
Zahid also dismissed foreign news report indicating that Zakir had tried to apply for citizenship in Malaysia.
He added the government would repatriate the preacher to India if it received a request of Mutual Legal Assistance.
Zahid said so far the Indian government had not sent any request to Malaysia to extradite the preacher.
"I have met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Zakir was among the matters raised. At that time, there was no request to extradite Zakir," he said.
Zahid said Zakir would continue to enjoy his permanent resident status as long as he did not breach any laws or promote terrorism in Malaysia.