KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said a controversial Indian Islamic preacher allegedly wanted in his home country for terror-related activities and hate speech would not be sent back, said the media reports here.
Zakir Naik, a radical television preacher, reportedly left India in 2016 and subsequently moved to largely Muslim Malaysia, where he was granted permanent residency.
According to Indian media reports, New Delhi asked for him to be extradited in January.
The two countries have an extradition treaty.
"As long as he is not creating any problem, we will not deport him because he has been given permanent residency status," Mahathir said at a news conference in administrative capital Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur when asked about the reports.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Ahir has said that Naik will be brought back eventually if not immediately.