I never promoted terror, claims Zakir Naik

Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is wanted in terror-related cases in India, today claimed that he has never promoted terror and his aim has always been to promote communal peace and harmony.

In a statement, Naik, who has taken shelter in Malaysia to evade arrest in India, claimed that the media had "resorted to doctored video clips, out-of-context quotations and a host of dishonest schemes to accuse me of terrorism, hate speech and even money-laundering."
Insisting that "any statement ascribed to me that is against humanity is a fabricated statement," he said, "My aim has always been to foster communal peace and harmony -- the exact opposite of the accusations hurled at me."
In the statement issued here through his spokesperson, Naiik went on to add that "time and again, I have reiterated that a Muslim cannot be a good Muslim unless he is a good human being."
Naik, who used to preach on a religious TV channel now banned in India, said that "not a single lecture out of the thousands that I have delivered, has every received objections from non-Muslims in India until September 2012, when a group of religious fanatics sought to tarnish my image."