'BJP offered me safe passage if I support Article 370'

In a video uploaded to his own channel, Islamic preacher Zakir Naik claimed that the union government sent an envoy to convey a message saying that he would be offered safe passage to the country if he supported the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir.

Naik, who has been in exile since 2016, in Malaysia further added that the envoy told him that the government would like to use his connections to build better relations with Muslim countries.

"The same BJP government which hounded me for the last three and a half years. The same person, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi who has used my name no less than nine times in span of less than two minutes in his election speech in May 2019, now they are bartering with me for a safe passage? That's too straight to be true." said the preacher.

In his video, Zakir Naik said that he refused the offer of safe passage in exchange for support on revoking Article 370 because he thought it was unconstitutional, an act of injustice and that he would not betray Kashmiris.

“I have a message for the Muslims of India,” he said, “It is noble to speak against injustice, but if you fear backlash and you are afraid, the least you can do is keep quiet, but supporting an unjust act is un-Islamic.”