Naik also disagreed with a media report that he was barred from delivering public talks in all states in Malaysia after the incident.
Naik, 56, a permanent resident who stays in Putrajaya, took this position when he was cross-examined by Penang deputy chief minister II P Ramasamy’s lawyer Ranjit Singh on the third day of the trial in his defamation suit.
The lawyer first referred to a report dated Aug 18, 2019 where the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said: “I don’t know who gave him his permanent resident status but he should stay out of politics. He can preach, he can spread Islam and we are not going to stop him.
“But he must not talk about politics. Asking the Chinese and Indians to go back is political. Clearly, he is stirring up racial sentiments. Let the police investigate.
“In Malaysia, we have rule of law and we will put that into practice.”
Mahathir was reported to have said this after an event at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Naik said he disagreed with the report and he had met Mahathir later and he did not mention such things to him.
Ranjit also referred to statements by former minister Rais Yatim on Aug 14 that Naik should be sent back to India.
“Before Zakir Naik lived here, we lived in harmony. Now even the Hindus are being disturbed by his comments that belittle them. Zakir is playing the role of an instigator,” Ranjit quoted Rais as saying.
The lawyer also referred to a statement by then youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman that Naik be deported while G25 founder Mohd Sheriff Mohd Kassim had said the government should take a firm stand against Naik for manipulating racial issues.
Naik also disagreed with an Aug 20, 2019 Malay Mail report that he was prevented from giving talks in any part of Malaysia.
In the report, police had said this was done in the interest of national security and to preserve racial harmony.
To this, Naik said: “Police did not convey any message that I am banned from such activities. I also checked with the chief secretary to the government then.”
Naik said he still gave talks to smaller groups during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the Kota Bharu talk on Aug 8, Zakir allegedly asked the Malaysian Chinese to “go back” first, as they were the “old guests” of the country.
He also compared the Hindus in Malaysia to the Muslims in India, saying that the Hindus enjoyed more than 100% rights in Malaysia compared with Muslims in India.
In October and December 2019, Naik filed two separate suits alleging that Ramasamy had issued five defamatory statements against him.
Ramasamy uploaded the statements on social media sites, which was carried by news portals between 2016 and 2019.
One of the statements was related to Naik’s Kota Bharu speech.
Naik claimed that he was defamed in the statement issued by Ramasamy titled “Zakir Naik should not question loyalty of Hindus” which was published by Free Malaysia Today (FMT) on Aug 11, 2019.
Hearing before Justice Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz has been adjourned to March 14.
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