Republic Media Network’s sting on fugitive preacher Zakir Naik in Kuala Lumpur shows him backing protests against the BJP. Naik said the party will not survive until the 2029 elections. Arnab Goswami linked these remarks to figures like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam, questioning the motives behind these ongoing protest movements.
Republic Media Network's sting on fugitive preacher Zakir Naik in Kuala Lumpur forms the centrepiece of a hard-hitting Debate with Arnab. In the undercover recording, Naik welcomes the momentum of the "cockroach" (CJP) protests, asserts that the BJP "will not survive" until the 2029 ele
ctions, states he can return to India only after the party leaves power, and expresses preference for a Congress-led arrangement involving Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee. Arnab presents these remarks as evidence of alignment between Naik, an absconder facing UAPA, money-laundering and hate-speech cases, and the protest organisers, while recalling Naik's history as an ideologue cited by terrorists and his Pakistani security detail in Malaysia. The debate widens the frame to alleged associations with figures such as Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid, earlier mercy petitions for Ajmal Kasab, and what Arnab terms a broader congregation of urban Naxal, pro-Maoist and radical Islamist voices seeking an extra-electoral route to remove the BJP. He also highlights a court observation that the protesters "are not even Gen-Z" but professional activists whose causes keep changing. Arnab challenges the CJP to publicly disavow Naik, Khalid, Imam and similar elements, arguing that their silence would confirm the company they keep and the stakes for India's future.