[Reader-list] Zakir Naik banned from Toronto Conference as well

[Pawan Durani]

http://ahmadiyyatimes.blogspot.com/2010/06/canada-controversial-muslim.html

“If [Osama bin Laden] is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him …
If he is terrorizing a terrorist, if he is terrorizing America the
terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him.” [Dr. Zakir Naik]


Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff | US Desk
Source & Credit:National Post | Canada
By Kathryn Blaze Carlson | June 22, 2010

An Indian Muslim televangelist who was banned from Britain last week
for “unacceptable behaviour” will not be allowed into Canada to speak
at an upcoming conference in Toronto, sources familiar with the
situation have told the National Post.

Dr. Zakir Naik, who has said “every Muslim should be a terrorist” and
that Jews are “our staunchest enemy,” was to headline next month’s
Journey of Faith Conference — which is billed as one of North
America’s largest Islamic conferences and is expected to attract
upward of 10,000 people.

Dr. Naik, the Mumbai-based founder of Peace TV and a widely respected
lecturer in India, has a laundry list of views that could have led to
his exclusion from the U.K. and Canada, both of which require an
Indian citizen to obtain a visitor visa.


The 44-year-old medical doctor recommends capital punishment for
homosexuals and the death penalty for those who abandon Islam as their
faith.

He has said that a man is within his right to beat his wife “lightly,”
though in a July 2009 YouTube video he cautioned against hitting her
on the face or leaving a mark.

The “Keep Zakir Naik Out of Canada” Facebook group, which was launched
over the weekend, also points out his view that western women make
themselves “more susceptible to rape” by wearing revealing clothing.

Among the chief reasons, British Home Secretary Theresa May decided to
quash Dr. Naik’s U.K. speaking tour later this month, however, were
comments he made in a widely circulated 2007 video.

“If [Osama bin Laden] is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him …
If he is terrorizing a terrorist, if he is terrorizing America the
terrorist, the biggest terrorist, I am with him,” said Dr. Naik, who
has delivered hundreds of talks in India, Canada, the U.S. and the
Middle East. “Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”

Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, said he and the
congress have been informed that Dr. Naik will be “stopped at the
airport,” and sources familiar with the situation confirmed Dr. Naik
does not have a visa to enter Canada.

“We are very happy that government agencies, having been made aware of
his statements, have taken this decision,” Mr. Fatah said, adding that
he sent a mass email to federal MPs last week, warning them of Dr.
Naik’s views. “We certainly don’t want hate-mongers to come here.”

“To me, the rules as to who can come into this country were written
for this kind of person,” echoed Bernie Farber, CEO of the Canadian
Jewish Congress. “The comments are highly inflammatory, and highly
provocative. When you put them together in one cauldron, you have a
stew of hatred.”

Dr. Naik, president of the Islamic Research Foundation in Mumbai, was
reached via email on Monday but would not comment on his pending visit
to Toronto. In fact, Dr. Naik may not yet know that he is unwelcome in
Canada, sources said.

In his email to the National Post, Dr. Naik pointed to a June 20
statement regarding the “overzealous and islamophobic exclusion order”
issued by the U.K. The statement seeks to clarify his comments, which
the foundation argues were “taken out of context.”

The Journey of Faith Conference is chaired by Imam Saed Rageah, whose
Toronto mosque, the Abu Huraira Centre, made headlines last fall after
a group of young worshippers vanished and were feared to have joined a
Somali militant group.
Imam Ragaeh declined an interview request yesterday, but passed along
a web video via email of Dr. Naik defending his comments and promising
to challenge the U.K. ban.

According to the Journey of Faith event website, the “hope” of the
July 2-4 conference at the downtown Metro Toronto Convention Centre is
for Muslims to “renew their forgotten relationship” with the Quran. As
of last night, the site still listed Dr. Naik as a featured speaker.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada declined to comment on the case
yesterday, citing the Privacy Act.