Zakir Naik Sparks Controversy In Pakistan Over Paedophilia Remarks And Customs Duty Complaint During Karachi Tour

Mumbai: Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik, originally from Mumbai, is finding himself at the centre of raging controversies in Pakistan. He is currently on a month-long tour of Pakistan at the invitation of the government in Islamabad. He is wanted in India on terror-related charges and has found refuge in Malaysia.

At a mega public event in Karachi, Dr Naik was informed by a young Pashtun woman that her native place follows the Islamic law with heavy restrictions on women's movement. But drug addiction, adultery and paedophilia was very common in her area because of which several persons, specially children, were suffering. She said the maulanas did not call out the offenders.

Dr Naik went on the offensive and accused the woman of contradicting herself. "If indeed Islamic law prevailed in his native place then there cannot be paedophilia," he asserted. The question was a loaded one and instead of answering it he came down heavily on the woman. Many were shocked that he did not deal with the main issue of paedophilia nor did he condemn it.

At another event he blew his top and slammed Pakistani customs authorities for levying duty on his luggage. By his own admission, Dr Naik and his small group had brought along luggage weighing 1,000 kgs. The Pakistani authorities insisted on levying duty. He then spoke to a senior official of Pakistani International Airlines (PIA) who promised to get the customs to levy only 50 % duty. But, Dr Naik was not satisfied with that. He wanted a total waiver of customs duty. "Had it been in India, Hindu customs officers would have waived off the duty, but here I am a guest of the Pakistani government and I am being asked to pay 50 per cent customs duty," he complained loudly.

Many social media influencers in Pakistan like Awais Iqbal tore Dr Naik's arguments to shreds. They accused the Indian preacher, who has a cult following, of hiding the truth. Dr Naik, who promotes wahhabism, had in the past courted controversy by demanding the razing of dargahs "since they were unIslamic." He became popular because he had learnt the Koran by rote and could quote it chapter and verse from memory. He also specialised in study of comparative religions and could quote from the Vedas, Bible and other religious texts.

Meanwhile, the Indian government is putting pressure on its Malaysian counterpart to extradite Dr Naik since he is wanted in several criminal cases. Since the Malaysian government is likely to consider New Delhi's request favourably, he might take shelter in Pakistan. However, Pakistan has millions of Barelvi Sunni Muslims who are opposed to wahhabism.