By TK Chua

Zakir Naik is a very well-known preacher. I am sure he is more knowledgeable than many others.

I wonder why then he is asking Interpol to rescind the Red Notice on him.

As far as I know, Interpol is an international organisation working with the police forces of member countries on information and data sharing, and to issue notices to arrest and extradite suspected criminals. The main objective is to keep the world safe from cross-border crimes and criminals.

Interpol is not a court of law to decide the guilt or innocence of those sought by the police from any country. Their job is to share intelligence and help secure suspected international criminals.

Naik should rightly prove his innocence with the Indian authorities, the country that requested the Red Notice on him.

As a preacher, I think Naik should be more careful when describing his predicament. It is wrong to claim “victimisation” because he is Muslim and a preacher. This is not good for Muslims/non-Muslim relations both in India and Malaysia.

News reports say that he is being investigated for specific crimes allegedly committed in India that include money-laundering and terrorist-related activities. It has nothing to do with him being a Muslim or a preacher.

It would be preposterous to assume that Muslim preachers are also money launderers or sympathisers of terrorism.

Naik must face the accusations alone. He mustn’t drag other Muslim preachers down with him.

TK Chua is an FMT reader.

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