'Every Muslim should be a terrorist' statement taken out of context: Zakir Naik

Mumbai: Founder of Islamic Research Foundation, Zakir Naik, who is under fire from all quarters, condemned Bangladesh terror attacks on Thursday.

While defending himself, the Islamist preacher said his alleged hate speech was taken out of context. The controversial figure has been hogging the headlines, after it was revealed that one of the five young militants, who slaughtered 20 innocent people at the Holey Artisan Bakery in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka, used to follow the Mumbai-based preacher.

"Many of the news channels in India are showing a clipping where I am saying that every Muslim should be a terrorist. Whenever anyone wants to malign me, they show the clipping,” Naik said.

"This clipping, yes it is me saying it but it is out of context. I said a terrorist is a person who terrorises someone. I also gave an example that a policeman terrorises a robber. So, for a robber a policeman is a terrorist. In this context, every Muslim should be a terrorist to the anti-social element," Naik told PTI from Mecca.

Meanwhile, the Centre has called the Islamic preacher's speeches as "highly objectionable" and said the Home Ministry will take appropriate action after studying them.