Qatar invites radical preacher Zakir Naik for FIFA World Cup

Doha, Nov 21: With FIFA World Cup being commenced in Qatar, radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is accused of delivering hate speech, has been invited to the country to preach Islam. He was also spotted in Qatar.

 

 

Reports suggest that Zakir Naik has already reached Doha in Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and he will give religious lectures throughout the tournament in the country.

 

 

Faisal Alhajri, a presenter at the Qatari state-owned sports channel Alkass. He took to Twitter and wrote, “Preacher Sheikh Zakir Naik is in Qatar during the World Cup and will give many religious lectures throughout the World Cup”

 

He has been banned from delivering speeches in Malaysia, his country of refuge after he fled India in 2016 on accusations of hate speeches, subversion and money laundering. Besides India, his Peace TV network is also banned in Bangladesh, Canada, Sri Lanka and the UK.

 

Naik is accused of influencing through his speeches perpetrators of the 2016 Dhaka bombing that killed 20, including 17 foreigners, and the much more devastating Easter bombings in Sri Lanka that killed over 250 in 2019. Some who joined the ISIS and were later apprehended confessed that the turning point was their meeting with Naik, who has denied having any role.