Member of Parliament Arvind Sawant on Wednesday called for a ban on and an investigation of Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, following the emergence of links with the recent terrorist attacks in Dhaka.
Two of the terrorists who participated in the Dhaka attacks were followers of Naik on social media; one of them had also posted a quote, supposedly by Naik, on his Facebook page a week before the attacks.
In a letter to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, Mr. Sawant, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai South, said, “The boys, who joined the ISIS from India, have also made the same statements as those of the Bangladesh extremists. I request your good office to first act to prevent entry of Zakir Naik in India and investigate thoroughly all his activities and the activities of all affiliated organisations, institutes, and the funding which he or his institutes receive and its utilisation.” The letter also asked for a ban on his TV channels, lest he “continue to spread his inhuman and revengeful speeches.”
The Hindu Janjagruti Samiti’s national spokesperson Ramesh Shinde made a similar demand. “The Congress government had imposed a ban on Naik’s channel, Peace TV. But the channel is regularly broadcast to several areas in the country, including Solapur. We had lodged a complaint against cable operators who were illegally airing the channel. Strong action should be taken against Naik and his institution.”
