AN online petition to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, calling for the deportation of controversial Muslim preacher Dr Zakir Naik, has garnered more than 17,000 signatures less than a week after it was posted by a London-based activist.

Farouk A Peru, who is pursuing his doctorate in theology and religious studies, Islam and postmodernity at King’s College, London, started the petition two days after the Sri Lanka bombings, warning of a growing number of Islamofascists in the country.