Zakir Naik was not invited to FIFA World Cup 2022 opening ceremony, Qatar tells India

In order to make it clear that the FIFA World Cup 2022 organisers did not extend any official invitation to controversial religious figure Zakir Naik to attend the opening ceremony of the event, Qatar has communicated with India through diplomatic channels, as per Hindustan Times.

Several media reports from the past few days have stated that Naik was going to Qatar on an official invite for the occasion and would be giving a speech.

However, the Qatari administration, according to new reports, has refuted all of these assertions and termed them as “deliberate disinformation being spread by foreign countries to create a divide in India-Qatar bilateral relations.”

Authorities in India are searching for Naik on allegations of money laundering and inciting extremism through hate speech. He did, in fact, travel from Malaysia to Qatar, according to media sources, but he did not attend the opening ceremony, and no additional details concerning his location were discovered.

In order to deport Naik to India for his suspected involvement in the riots in 2020 Delhi, India is currently working to obtain a Red Corner Notice against him from Interpol and has also made a request to Malaysia.

The communication from Qatar, according to a report in India Today, came after the Indian government threatened to postpone Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar’s attendance at the World Cup opening ceremony. Dhankar did make the trip, and he sat in the VVIP box to watch the ceremony.

Being involved in forced conversions is one of the accusations made against Naik. As per the media reports, a chargesheet was brought against him for converting non-Muslims to Islam.

After India filed money laundering charges against him, Zakir Naik fled the country and has been living in exile in Malaysia since 2017.

Despite having a permanent residence in Malaysia, Naik was prohibited from making speeches there in 2020 for the sake of “national security.”

He had been accused of making inciting remarks and interrogated by local authorities about his intention to disturb the peace by making comments about the Hindu and Chinese groups that reside in the Muslim-majority country.