Fact check: No, Zakir Naik did not meet Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists in Lahore

ISLAMABAD: Indian media shared news claiming that Islamic preacher Dr. Zakir Naik — who is holding a series of lectures in Pakistan — has been spotted with members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque.

The magazine, India Today, reported that Zakir Naik, who arrived in Pakistan on September 30, met LeT commander Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi, Muhammad Harris Dhar, and Faisal Nadeem.

The magazine wrote that the alleged LeT members had been declared international terrorists by the United States in 2008.

It is pertinent to mention that, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) has been banned in Pakistan since January 12, 2002, and its founder Hafiz Saeed is serving a 78-year imprisonment sentence since 2020 in Pakistan, as a result of a conviction in terror financing cases.

India outlawed the organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Moreover, the US in 2001 included the group in the Terrorist Exclusion List and designated it as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

Fact check

The Indian media’s claim about Naik’s meeting with LeT members is false as group activities have been proscribed in Pakistan.

Muzammil Iqbal Hashmi, Faisal Nadeem, and Muhammad Haris Dar, who met Dr. Zakir during his lecture at Badshahi Mosque are prominent members of the Pakistan Markazi Muslim League (PMML), which operates as a political party.

Muzammil Hashmi is the general secretary of PMML Lahore, Faisal Nadeem is head of the party’s Sindh chapter, and Haris Dar works as head of PMML’s Youth Wing.

However, India considers PMML an extension of Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa ((JuD) and creates a narrative against Pakistan on such issues.

The Indian government has charged Islamic scholar Dr. Zakir Naik in several cases including money laundering and accused him of spreading hate speech and inciting terrorism.

The report by Indian media can be an attempt to reiterate the country’s stance against Zakir Naik, who lives in self-exile.