CONTROVERSIAL Islamic televangelist Zakir Naik should not be placed on Interpol’s red corner notice as there is no evidence he has done wrong, Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said today.

“There’s no proof that he called for or incited people to commit terrorist acts, through a single word of his or his lectures,” Asri told The Malaysian Insight.

“When there is, then we can talk,” he said on the sidelines of a forum entitled ‘Moderation in al-Qur’an: Between two points of extremism’ in Kuala Lumpur today.

Zakir is appealing to Interpol to turn down India’s request for a red-corner notice against him, reported the Times of India yesterday.

He alleges that he is being unfairly targeted by the Indian government for being Muslim.

A red corner notice would make Zakir an international fugitive.

Asri said the RCN was unwarranted because there were “only accusations without evidence”.

“I’ve listened to so many talks of his. None of them had called people to go against the government or to do something that would cause harm to others. I think that is something that should be considered,” he said. 

Zakir fled India last year after a suspect in a terror attack on a Dhaka cafe in Bangladesh, said he had been influenced by Naik’s speeches.

Peace TV, the channel founded by Zakir, is banned in Bangladesh.

Zakir is believed to be in Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency five years ago.

Times of India reported that NIA had informed Interpol of the recent revocation of Zakir’s Indian passport and requested that it passed on the information to its member countries. .

Saudi Arabia is reported to have issued him a passport.

Zakir was scheduled to speak last month in Perlis but cancelled. Asri defended the state religious authorities’ invitation to Zakir, saying it was because the local folk wanted to hear him speak.

Asri, also known as Dr Maza, had caught flak in April for defending Zakir from Hindu organisations opposed to his presence in Malaysia.

About 40 Hindu non-governmental organisations and activist groups had lodged police reports against the Perlis mufti after he allegedly  insulted the Hindu community in a poem on Facebook.

Meanwhile,Asri said Malaysian Islamic authorities were fixated on  “private” transgressions such as “khalwat”.

“In Malaysia, I find that many personal sins such as khalwat are being made public. But bribery and corruption, which are corrosive, are not the main focus,” he told today’s forum, organised by The Islamic Renaissance Front. 

Present were Islamic scholars Muni’im Sirry of the University of Notre Dame and Abdul Munir Mulkhan of UIN Sunan Kalijaga.

“We gossip a lot about private transgressions, but when it comes to stealing and robbing the people, they are not even discussed. 

“Rivers are polluted, forests are being chopped up, but people don’t speak up.

“But when it comes to ‘khalwat’, everyone suddenly wants to talk.” – August 19, 2017.