KUALAMPUR ( Halbeeg News) – Controversial Indian preacher Zakir Naik has apologized for making racially sensitive remarks in Malaysia.
“It was never my intention to upset any individual or community,” the Muslim preacher said in a statement on Tuesday.
Mr. Naik was questioned by police for hours over the comments he made last week.
The Islamic televangelist who faces charges of money laundering and hates speech in India has come under fire for comments that pitted Malaysia’s ethnic and religious minorities against the predominantly Muslim Malay majority.
“It is against the basic tenets of Islam, and I would like to convey my heartfelt apologies for this misunderstanding,” Naik said.
The Malaysian police have since barred him from delivering public talks in the country.
He was questioned for 10 hours on Monday about a speech earlier this month in which he said Hindus in Malaysia had “100 times more rights” than the Muslim minority in India, and that Malaysian Chinese were guests of the country.
Several cabinet ministers publicly called for Naik, who has permanent residency in Malaysia and has lived there for about three years, to be expelled from the country.
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Naik had crossed a line.
” Naik can preach but he wasn’t doing that… he was talking about sending the Chinese back to China, Indians back to India, that’s for me a political move,” The PM said.
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