unduly damaged his reputation. The next day he maintained that his statements had been taken out of context, but expressed 'heartfelt apologies for this misunderstanding', as it 'was never my intention to upset any individual or community.' The Indian PM Modi had criticized Naik's comments during a dialogue with Mahathir at the Eastern Economic Forum in September. Reception, awards, titles, and honors Naik was ranked 89 on The Indian Express's list of the "100 Most Powerful Indians in 2010". He was ranked 82 in the 2009 edition. According to Praveen Swami, Naik is "perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue in India". Sanjiv Buttoo says he is acknowledged as an authority on Islam, but is known for making negative remarks about other religions. Sadanand Dhume writes that Naik has a "carefully crafted image of moderation", because of his gentle demeanour, his wearing of a suit and tie, and his quoting of scriptures of other religions. Controversies Naik is currently a wanted fugitive from the Indian authorities on charges of terror financing, hate speech, inciting communal hatred, and money laundering. Naik fled the country in 2016, and India's National Investigation Agency (NIA), has tried, unsuccessfully, to convince Interpol issue a red notice for Naik's arrest due to insufficient evidence. On the basis of hate-speech laws, Naik's Peace TV's channel is banned in India, Bangladesh, Canada, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom. Naik's Peace TV app, on the other hand, is not blocked in the same countries. Naik argues that his comments have been taken out of context multiple times. The Islamic Research Foundation website describes Naik as "the ideologue and driving force behind Peace TV Network". Naik's website claims that the Islamic Research Foundation and Peace TV promote "Truth, Justice, Morality, Harmony and Wisdom for the whole of humankind". The Indian government banned the Peace TV channel in 2012. According to The New York Times in 2015, quoting an anonymous Indian journalist, the Mumbai police have barred him from holding conferences "because he stirs controversy", and Indian satellite providers have refused to broadcast his television channel, Peace TV. However, as of August 2019, Peace TV was still available in India through a free app in the Google Play Store, which had been downloaded over a lakh (100,000) times. Following investigations by Ofcom in 2019, the broadcasting authority moved to suspend Peace TV's license to broadcast in the UK. In addition, Ofcom fined