PUNE: A former vice chairman of Maharashtra State Minorities Commission has condemned controversial self-styled Islamic preacher Zakir Naik for his inflammatory speeches in Pakistan which have ignited such a surge of extremism, further emboldening extremists and encouraging hostility towards the Christian minority community in Pakistan.
“Dr Zakir Naik has yet again sparked another conflagration in Pakistan, deliberately intended to put the wellbeing of the Christian community in jeopardy which could lead like a 2015 situation where 21 Christians were beheaded in Libya for refusing to convert to Islam,” said Dr Abraham Mathai, former Vice-Chairman of Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, in a statement on Oct.28.
He said Dr Naik, on his current visit to Pakistan, has made objectionable remarks against the Christian faith, causing uproar in a community which is a minority, that faces various forms of persecution at the hands of extremist fundamentalists, such as false accusations of blasphemy to violent attacks.
“The Christian community though a minority in Pakistan are known to be peace loving and yet Naik threatens their peace and harmonious existence with his venomous utterances and toxic tongue,” said Mathai, also Chairman at Mumbai-based NGO Harmony Foundation.
He said Naik’s speeches which have terribly infuriated Pakistan’s Christian minority, have caused them to be fearful, offended, insulted, and increasingly intimidated.
“His dismissive and aggressive responses in front of large crowds further emboldens extremists, encouraging hostility toward Christians,” Mathai noted.
He said Naik has seemingly intentionally “planted seeds of genocidal attacks and pogroms” against the Christian community in Pakistan which can easily explode after his departure.
In an environment where blasphemy laws are so often misused to target the vulnerable minorities, especially Christians, this has the potential to incite further violence against the Christian community in Pakistan, comparable to the brutal beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Islamist extremists in Libya in 2015 by ISIS, which has remained one of the most horrifying instances of religious persecution in recent memory, Mathai pointed out.
He urged Pakistan to exonerate itself by openly denouncing the statements of Naik to put the fears and apprehension of the Christian minority community at rest.