The Government needs to take stern action against the radical preacher who has been spreading a hateful ideology. He is a threat to his nation
Zakir Naik, born and brought up in India, has scant respect and love for his mother country. He calls himself an Islamic peace preacher. But contrary to his claims, he is actually indoctrinating gullible people into a jihadi mindset. A gifted orator, his speeches have cultivated thousands of followers in India and abroad.
Zakir Naik is the founder and president of IRF or Islamic Research Foundation, which is receiving huge amount of funds from Saudi Arabia, with a mission to carry out anti-national activity in India. In one of his videos, he is seen praising and justifying Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin laden. There is a suspicion that his foundation has links with agencies that are promoting terrorism.
Besides, there is enough proof that he is engaged in proselytising activities also. In one of his felicitating events in Pune in 2008, Naik publically converted 12 Hindus to Islam. When questioned, he declared, the conversion was the result of choice and free will of converts, and not coercion.
It is no secret to the intelligence agencies that the funds of IRF are grossly misused for the purpose of conversion, as converts are given benefits both in cash and kind. According to a Bombay police report, Naik has so far converted 800 non-Muslims to Islam by persuading them and paying them huge amounts.
Naik for his endeavour has been eloquently praised by his bosses in the Arab world. last year, he received Saudi Arabia's most prestigious ‘Service to Islam' award from the king. He was also honoured with the ‘Personality of the year' title by Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates recentlty.
Sensing his nefarious designs, many developed countries like the UK have banned his entry. Even some Muslim countries like Malaysia and Bangladesh have banned his entry into their territory. Dhaka has indicted him of cultivating a large number of home grown terrorists through his speeches. Some of these men were also found guilty in the recent terrorist attack in Dhaka.
Currently, Naik is putting up in Saudi Arabia. After he was exposed in India after the Dhaka attack, he became nervous and decided not to flee. But soon he realised that his shop would close and he would be out of business if he remains in the Arab world for long. His funding will stop and he could end up as a non entity.
He took a U-turn and threw a bait. He started praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and declared his support for a uniform civil code with a desire to return to India.
Naik is well aware of Indian law — even if he is arrested, the case against him will drag on for years in court. He knows that he can raise a crowd of supporters in India to create a ruckus. The contingent loyal to him could be comprising of Kashmiri separatists, several torchbearers of Islam, the clerics, political adversaries of the incumbent Government and a clutch of human rights activists, who would continuously monitor his health concerns, his security issues and so on.
Now it is for the Government to decide what is good for the country and to curb his nefarious activities. Or the Government could succumb to internal pressure to let him in and face the music emanating from hate speech.