Azamgarh-based Mulsim political outfit Rashtriya Ulema Council has defended controversial radical Muslim tele-evangelist Zakir Naik and demanded ban on the Astha TV channel owned by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev.
The Council came into existence in the aftermath of a series of terror module being busted by the police and security forces in which Muslim youths from Azamgarh were arrested. The Council had organised huge protests after the Batala House incident of New Delhi in 2008, where two youths of Azamgarh wanted in terror cases were killed in a police encounter and several were arrested.
Giving a clean chit to Naik, Council chief Maulana Amir Rashadi said, “Zakir Naik is a victim of media trial. First the media conducts a trial and later the person is set up in false cases by security agencies and has to go to jail.”
Rashadi said, “No Islamic preacher can be linked to terror merely on the charge that that person has liked a particular post or page on a social media site.’’
He criticised the ban on Peace TV channel owned by Naik and said that the government should have probed before imposing the ban.
Questioning the probe by Maharashtra government and Central agencies into financial affairs of the Islamic Research Foundation of Naik, the Council leader said, “Action be taken if Naik has done wrong but it must be based on investigation by police and investigation agencies.’’
Meanwhile, Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad demanded stern action against Zakir Naik and condemned the terror strike in France where 84 people were mowed down by a truck.
Jawwad said that Wahabi Islam was the biggest threat to humanity and peace around the globe.
“Preachers of Wahabi brand like Zakir Naik pose a grave threat to social harmony, unity and integrity of the country. Doctrine of hate is being propagated by Naik which is spreading across the nation through social media, internet and TV channels. The Centre should take effective measures to curb such ideology which is radicalizing Sunni Muslim youth,” said Maulana Kalbe Jawwad.