The Centre on Tuesday clamped down on controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) by declaring it as an outlawed organisation for five years. The Union Home Ministry issued the order under stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for charges of terror linked activities. The move would affect the free movement of Naik, who has not returned to India after the MHA started probe in the activities of his NGO.
The IRF is declared as an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for five years, said a Home Ministry official. Zakir Naik, who illegally broadcasts his Peace TV for the past seven years, came under scanner after his name cropped up in the recent blasts in Dhaka after some of the accused disclosed their associations with him.
The investigation by the Home Ministry found that the NGO had dubious links with the Peace TV, an international Islamic channel, accused of propagating terrorism, said the official. According to the Home Ministry, Naik, who heads the IRF, has allegedly made many provocative speeches and engaged in terror propaganda.
The Home Ministry’s investigation also found that the IRF donated Rs 50 lakh illegally to Sonia Gandhi headed Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in 2010. When the donation became controversial after the Dhaka blasts, the IRF returned the money to IRF in August 2016.
The Maharashtra Police has also registered criminal cases against Naik for his alleged involvement in radicalisation of the youth and luring them into terror activities, officials said. Naik also transferred the IRF’s foreign funds to Peace TV for making “objectionable” programmes. Most of the programmes, which were made in India, contained alleged hate speeches of Naik, who had reportedly “urged all Muslims to be terrorists” through Peace TV, they claimed. An educational trust run by Naik has already been prevented from receiving foreign funds and agencies are looking into their activities.
The Islamic orator is banned in the UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia. He is popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV, although his preaching often demeans other religions and even other Muslim sects. The Mumbai-based preacher, who is abroad, has not returned to India ever since the controversy came to light.