The government has decided not to grant permission to Indian-origin Islamic preacher Zakir Naik to enter Bangladesh for the time being.

The decision was made at a meeting of the core committee on law and order at the meeting room of the Ministry of Home Affairs at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

According to sources in the Home Ministry, an organization wants to bring Zakir Naik to Dhaka for two days on November 28 and 29. He also has plans to go outside Dhaka. However, discussions have been going on for a few days regarding Zakir Naik’s visit to Dhaka.

Yesterday’s meeting discussed that if Zakir Naik comes to Bangladesh, there will be a huge crowd. Many members of the law enforcement agencies will be needed to control the crowd. There is no opportunity to deploy so many members there at the moment due to Zakir Naik’s arrival in Dhaka. Everyone is now focused on the elections. The meeting decided that Zakir Naik can come to Dhaka after the national elections. But not before the elections.

After the terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka in 2016, the Indian government accused Zakir Naik of inciting terrorism and making hateful statements. Zakir Naik then left India and sought refuge in Malaysia. The Malaysian government granted him permanent residency in the city of Putrajaya.