Radical Islamic preacher and televangelist Zakir Naik uploaded a video on his Facebook channel, in which he urged the Indian Muslims to do ‘Hijra’ to Kerala, where ‘the BJP Government doesn’t have much hold’.
While answering to a question on how Indian Muslims should ‘tackle’ the BJP government, he said that Muslims who could not move out of the country could go to another state, “which is more lenient towards Muslims”.
“In the last four-to-six years, there is an onslaught on Muslim minorities in India. There are a lot of lynchings, attacks…” Zakir Naik claimed in his speech. He also alleged there was a lot of oppression and persecution under the current government.
He said that Indian Muslims are divided on the basis of “different sects in Islam, and belonging to different political parties and social organisations”. “The Indian Muslims as a whole should be united,” he added.
Naik claimed that there are “actually 250 million to 300 million Muslims”. He also alleged that the Government of India is suppressing the real population of Indian Muslims. According to the census reports, the Muslims are around 200 million. Naik declared India is the country with the world’s largest Muslim population.
Zakir Naik then declared, “Muslims should make another party, exclusively, only for Muslims”. “This political party should join hands with other political parties that are not Fascist and not communal,” he added. He also advised the Muslim community that such a Muslim political party should join hands with Dalits, adding “Dalits are not Hindus”.
Twisting the historical facts, Zakir Naik falsely claimed that Babasaheb Ambedkar wanted to join Islam! “Babasaheb Ambedkar loved Islam. He wanted to join Islam, but unfortunately, the Muslims didn’t welcome him, so he chose the second-best… he chose Buddhism”. Zakir Naik said such a political alliance of Muslims and Dalits would represent nearly 600 million people and be a major force.
Naik urged the Indian Muslims to do Hijra (migration) to other countries or states if they are a minority where they live. “If you have the means to go to a Muslim-majority country, that should be the best,” Zakir Naik said. He said that he did “not expect” all Muslims of India to leave the country.
Naik suggested that Kerala is the best state he can think of! Zakir Naik claimed that followers of all three major religions—Hindus, Muslims and Christians—each accounted for about one-third of the population of Kerala.
“The people of Kerala are not communal in nature. The people of different religions live harmoniously. There is no friction between different religions. This government (BJP) doesn’t have much hold in the state of Kerala. So, one of the best options if you want to do Hijira to another state, I would say, is Kerala,” Zakir Naik said.
He also said that Bombay and Hyderabad are less communal states but Uttar Pradesh is very communal. Endorsing ghettoisation, Naik advised Muslims to migrate to places like Dongri and Byculla in Mumba, where Muslims constitute more than 85-90%of population.
