Bangladesh Home Minister: Zakir Naik’s Islamist links being probed

Asaduzzaman Khan says "he is on our security scanner."

Updated - November 17, 2021 02:38 am IST

Published - July 09, 2016 02:34 pm IST - DHAKA:

Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan says the country's intelligence agencies were investigating the activities of controversial preacher Zakir Naik (in the picture) as his lectures appeared provocative..

Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan says the country's intelligence agencies were investigating the activities of controversial preacher Zakir Naik (in the picture) as his lectures appeared provocative..

The Bangladesh government on Saturday said it was investigating the Islamist links of India-based controversial preacher Zakir Naik and examining the possibilities of banning his “provocative” speeches in the wake of two brutal terrorist attacks in the country within a week in which 25 people died.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said that Bangladesh’s intelligence agencies were investigating the Islamic preacher.

‘He is on our scanner’

“He is on our security scanner... Our intelligence agencies are investigating his activities as his lectures appeared provocative,” Mr. Khan said.

Mr. Khan said the investigators were also probing Naik’s financial transactions in Bangladesh. He, however, added that the government was yet to decide on banning the broadcast of his ‘Peace TV Bangla.’

But Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said the government was examining the possibilities of banning Naik’s ’Peace TV Bangla’ in view of his controversial speeches.

‘We have been receiving complaints’

“Give us some more time for taking a decision in this regard...but I can tell you we have been receiving complaints about the provocative contents of his speeches,” Mr. Inu said.

The comments by the two senior Ministers came as Bangladesh’s private TV cable operators said they await a government directive on the broadcast of Mr. Naik’s television channel.

Peace TV will be aired, for now

“In the past, I myself used to watch the channel but after the Gulshan incident, I realised that many people do not view the channel the way I do it,” Cable TV Owners’ Association President Mir Hossain Akhtar told a Bangladeshi news agency.

He added: “We want to stop airing the channel across the country. But in the absence of any government notification in this regard, it is not possible at this moment.”

Controversy dogs him

Mr. Naik, whose speeches are aired on ‘Peace TV’ run by his Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation, is a controversial Islamic preacher and his preachings were reported to have inspired some of the Dhaka attackers.

Britain and Canada have banned Mr. Naik from visiting the two countries several years ago while Malaysia banned his lectures fearing that they could instigate inter-racial tensions.

‘Not inciting, but abetting radicalisation’

Experts said Mr. Naik could not be accused of openly inciting terror but his preaching were a heady mix of ingredients which could abet radicalisation of the extreme kinds.

One of the slain attackers of the terrorist attack in Dhaka’s high-security Gulshan area on July 1, the 22-year-old Rohan Imtiaz quoted Mr. Naik in a Facebook post in January this year where he urged “all Muslims to be terrorists.”

Twenty-two people, including 17 foreigners, were killed in the brutal late—night attack. Six days later, militants attacked police guarding the largest Eid gathering in Bangladesh and killed three more people.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.