He claims he has been targeted because he is a Muslim, according to a report in The Hindustan Times (HT).

The passport of Naik, who has Malaysian permanent resident status,was revoked after he repeatedly failed to appear for questioning before India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged terror-funding cases.

The controversial Islamic preacher also wants the court to direct the investigating agencies to submit reports, along with evidence, to the court on the charges levelled against him.

In his petition, filed by his lawyer, Naik claims he has never incited communal disharmony or any illegal activity against any specific religion or community and that he has always condemned those who incite violence and terrorised people.

He claimed the investigating agencies were targeting him only because he was a Muslim and that his lectures had been “distorted and doctored to implicate him in false and frivolous cases,” HT reported.

Naik, who was reportedly issued a passport by Saudi Arabia, fled India after he was accused of influencing terrorists involved in a terror strike in Dhaka on July 1, 2016. He has been frequently seen in Malaysia.

In November last year the NIA registered a criminal case against him, and India banned his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF).

The HT reported Naik as claiming in his petition that he had founded the IRF in 1991 primarily for philanthropic works such as empowering Muslim women and to help needy Muslim youth. He claims the IRF started various scholarships to fund education of poor and needy Muslim youth.