Zakir Naik to begin 10-day visit to Karachi tomorrow

• Dr Zakir meets Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.
• SSU to provide security to eminent public speaker.
• Zakir Naik to leave for Lahore on October 11.

KARACHI: Noted religious scholar Dr Zakir Naik will arrive on a 10-day official visit on Wednesday in Karachi, where he will hold important meetings and address an event.

Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab will receive Dr Zakir at the airport. The Special Security Unit (SSC) of Sindh Police will provide security to the state guest, said police authorities.

The globally celebrated personality, who left India in 2016, is scheduled to meet multiple top religious scholars of Pakistan including Mufti Taqi Usmani, Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, Jamia Tur Rasheed head Mufti Abdul Rahim and others.

He will meet senior bureaucrats and officials of Sindh as well, apart from visiting an important government institute on October 4.

Then, Dr Zakir will address an event at the Bagh-e-Quaid, located opposite mausoleum of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on October 5. While, he will hold private meetings from October 7 to 10.

After that, he will depart from the metropolis for Lahore the next morning on October 11.

The 58-year-old eminent religious scholar and public speaker reached Pakistan at the invitation of the government on September 30.

During his about a month-long stay in Pakistan, which will last till October 28, Dr Zakir will hold public gatherings in various cities, lead Friday prayers and will also meet senior government officials.

The renowned scholar's visit comes after he confirmed in a social media post on X regarding his Pakistan tour along with his son Shaikh Fariq Naik.

In the meantime, he had a brief meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar as well in Islamabad.

As per the schedule shared by Dr Zakir, he will address public rallies in Karachi on October 5 and 6, followed by those set to take place in Lahore on October 12 and 13.

Meanwhile, the scholar will address public gatherings in Islamabad on October 19 and 20.

Upon his arrival on Monday, Dr Zakir was received by PM's Youth Programme Chairman Rana Mashhood, Additional Secretary Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Dr Syed Attaur Rehman, Parliamentary Secretary for Religious Affairs Shamshir Ali Mazari and other officials.

The medical doctor has been living in Malaysia for years, where he enjoys a permanent residence, as he is wanted in India over alleged involvement in money laundering and inciting extremism, Hindustan Times reported.

The esteemed scholar was born on October 18, 1965, to Abdul Karim Naik and Roshan Naik in Bombay, India.