Zakir Naik to speak to media Thursday

Controversial Islamic preacher and televangelist Zakir Naik will address the media via Skype on July 14. His Thursday's press conference "will also be addressed by some eminent personalities from various fields" said Naik in a statement, reports Times of India. "It will include some Bollywood members, lawyers and members of NGOs," he said. The preacher is currently staying in Medina in Saudi Arabia and there is still no word on when Naik intends to return. Earlier his spokesperson had said Naik postponed his return by 2-3 weeks because he was headed for South Africa to attend conferences. Naik is facing a probe by central and state agencies which are studying his speeches and writings to assess if there are grounds for his prosecution for hate speech and incitement against other faiths. Through his spokesperson, Naik reiterated on Tuesday that no agency had approached him for clarifications on allegedly inspiring some of the perpetrators of the July 1 Dhaka massacre through his puritanical Salafist speeches. Senior criminal lawyer and NCP member Majeed Memon, who had backed Naik's fight to get the UK ban revoked in 2010, said he had not been approached by Naik's supporters to be part of Thursday's press conference. However, Memon criticised Majlise Ittihadul Muslimeen legislator Imtiaz Jaleel's statement giving Naik a clean chit. "If there are allegations, let Naik explain them and come out clean."