Let Cabinet decide on Zakir Naik's status, says Deputy Foreign Minister

JOHOR BARU: The Cabinet will decide on the status of controversial preacher Zakir Naik, says Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya (pic).

He stressed that there were many quarters who have called on the government to deport Zakir but they must understand the situation in the first place.

“Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has always reminded us the reason why we are keeping Zakir here.

“Understand the situation first before arguing but I do not like to comment further on the matter as Zakir is not a Malaysian and it is a waste of time, ” he added.

Marzuki, who is also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) secretary-general, said this when met after officiating at the Johor Bersatu division information chiefs meeting here in Sungai Tiram Sunday (Aug 18).

He added that everyone should leave it to the Cabinet as whatever decision it made was above all else.

It was recently reported that Zakir called on Chinese Malaysians to “go back” first as they were the “old guests” of the country during a religious talk called “Executive Talk bersama Dr Zakir Naik” in Kota Baru, Kelantan.

Zakir was responding to calls for his own deportation.

Zakir was also chastised by many parties after he compared the Hindus in Malaysia to the Muslims in India, saying that the Hindus in Malaysia enjoyed more than 100% rights compared to Muslims in India.

He alleged that the Hindus here were more loyal to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi than Malaysia’s Dr Mahathir.

Zakir, an Indian citizen, has stirred controversy in Malaysia with his open evangelism criticising non-Muslims.

He is wanted in India over corruption charges but has not been deported as certain parties here believe the charges were trumped-up.

Dr Mahathir has since admitted that Malaysia is in a Catch-22 situation as Zakir was “an unwelcome guest Malaysia can’t send away”.