Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, a subject of multiple inquires in India over alleged incendiary speeches, has written an open letter to the government seeking clarification on the charges levelled against him.
"Why now, I have been preaching for 25 years," asked the controversial televangelist, who said "the attack" was not just against him but on "Indian Muslims" and against "peace, democracy and justice".
Mr Naik, 50, said that he was respected in over 150 countries but was being called "terror influencer" in his own country. "What have I done to earn the tags of 'terror preacher' and 'Dr Terror'," he asked in a four-page letter released in Mumbai.
In a series of questions posed to the government, he asked why a probe continued against him even after "not a single conclusive evidence of wrong doing" was reported by any agency. Based out of Mumbai, Mr Naik is currently in South Africa and has said he won't return to India this year.
Mr Naik's Islamic Research Foundation was recently banned from receiving foreign funds without Home Ministry's approval.
"Why would the government renew Islamic Research Foundation's FCRA registration and then cancel it? "Is there design to leaking confidential information of the government, solicitor general and the MHA? Is there a design to leaking selective government documents to the media?" the letter read.
The BJP has also alleged that a donation of Rs. 50 lakh in 2011 from Mr Naik's IRF to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation - headed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi - was a "bribe to shelter (Mr Naik's) illegal and anti-national activities".
Mr Naik, a doctor by education, said the entire row has come as a "shock" to him and was a "murder of democracy and strangulation of fundamental rights".
Zakir Naik's speeches came under Indian government's scanner after the Bangladeshi government accused him of making speeches that could have incited some of the terrorists who attacked a Dhaka cafe in July, killing 20 people.
India had promised detailed investigation into Dr Naik's speeches.
On allegations of forced conversions, Mr Naik said the probe agencies were ignoring the most basic proof which he said was "a converted person and his/her statement?
