After Tipu Sultan controversy, the Congress Government in Karnataka led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is expected to face one more major controversy over Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s visit to the coastal town of Mangaluru on 3 January 2016.
The Bajrang Dal which has a strong presence in Mangaluru wants a ban on Salafi Ideologue Zakir Naik who is addressing a mammoth rally organised by South Karnataka Salafi Movement in Mangaluru on January 3 next year.
Bajrang Dal Karnataka South zonal coordinator Sharan Pumpwell alleged that Government’s dual policy favouring Muslims and discriminating against the Hindus was disastrous. He said the State Government, which was supporting Zakir Naik’s arrival in Mangaluru, should be questioned against the ban on Praveen Togadia of the VHP and Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat an RSS activist for the programmes at Bengaluru and Hassan respectively. He demanded Mangaluru district administration should ban Naik from entering the district.
He said, “We will not allow him to come to Mangaluru. As a first step we are submitting a memorandum to the District Administration seeking a ban on his entry to the district. Zakir Naik was an anti-Hindu and making controversial statements against all other religions. Once the district administration takes a decision we will work out the next course of action.”
“Zakir Naik has the blessings of the Karnataka Government and as a proof of that the district in charge Minister Ramanath Rai openly offered support to Zakir Naik’s visit and to the function. He has also asked the non-Muslims to support his visit to Mangaluru,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bajrang Dal also announced a huge convention that would be organised on January 6 in Mangaluru. “The convention would concentrate on the ongoing phenomena like cattle slaughter, love jihad and attacks on Hindu activists. The VHP leader Praveen Togadia will deliver the keynote address on the occasion. The coastal district, especially Mangaluru, is a victim of the atrocities against majorities. Hindus here are considered as second grade citizens. In the aftermath of the Congress Government coming to power, constant conspiracies are hatched to suppress Hindus, who are made victims of atrocities planned especially to curb them,” Sharan said.
He also alleged the State Government was supporting the people involved in cattle trafficking and added the Government had also withdrawn the cases registered against the members of the anti-national organisation PFI.
He said the State Government’s decision to ban astrology programmes being aired on television channels was totally undemocratic and will hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus.
Zakir Naik is an Indian Islamic preacher who has been called an “authority on comparative religion”, “perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue in India,” and “the world’s leading Salafi evangelist. He is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), and founder of the “comparative religion” Peace TV channel, through which he reaches a reported 100 million viewers. Unlike many Islamic preachers, his lectures are colloquial, given in English not Urdu or Arabic, and he wears a suit and tie rather than traditional garb.
Before becoming a public speaker, he trained as a medical doctor. He has published booklet versions of lectures on Islam and comparative religion. Although he has publicly disclaimed sectarianism in Islam, he is regarded by some as an exponent of the Salafi ideology, and, by some, as a radical Islamic televangelist propagating Wahhabism.