Mumbai: Rejecting the allegations, the Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on Friday claimed that he never encouraged anyone to kill innocents and said he will cooperate with the agency if they approach him.
The press conference via Skype from Medina, Dr. Naik, condemned the attack in France and said suicide bombing where innocents are killed is haraam (prohibited).’ He, however, added that many scholars say ‘it is permitted as a tactic of war.’
“I did not inspire any terrorist… suicide bombings targeting innocent people are condemnable,” Dr. Naik said, adding his statements on terrorism and suicide bombings were “doctored and tampered“.
The Islamic preacher dismissed as “misinformation” that he had ever advocated suicide bombings, saying he always condemned them since innocent people get killed and this is “anti-Islam”. The 50-year-old Mumbai based preacher maintained that no government agency has approached him to join investigation in connection with charges leveled against him until now.
The Mumbai-based preacher has come under scanner after the Dhaka terror attack, where two of the terrorists were believed to have been inspired by Naik’s lectures. His spiritual channel Peace TV was subsequently banned in Bangladesh.
Addressing the media through Skype, the Mumbai-based preacher said he would comply with any investigation by the government authorities but he was ‘not available for any media trial’.
