I’ll be hounded out, says Zakir Naik

September 11, 2016 12:58 am | Updated October 18, 2016 01:05 pm IST - Mumbai:

Islamic preacher Zakir Naik issued an open letter addressed to “Indians” on Saturday claiming that his non-profit organisation, Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and himself have been set up for a ban by the government.

He said that if at all he was driven out of India it might be for the better and many countries would give him a “red carpet treatment.”

In the letter titled ‘Five Questions and an Appeal’, Dr. Naik wrote that he was being targeted by the “system, media, and the agencies” which were being used by the government to arrive at “a premeditated end result.” He said he had spent the last 25 years promoting peace, and was not guilty of any wrongdoing or offence. The media stories surrounding him were “planted” and legal agencies had not found any evidence to incriminate him in the alleged offences.

“Let’s not be gullible enough to assume that there isn’t a deeper agenda behind this vicious campaign. This is not just an attack on me; it’s an attack against Indian Muslims. And it’s an attack against peace, democracy and justice,” he wrote. He said the motive was to target his community by “demonising” him.

Dr. Naik also wrote about the licence renewal for his Islamic Research Foundation which resulted in the suspension of four officers from the Home Ministry, including the Joint Secretary.

“Why would the government renew IRF’s FCRA registration and then cancel it? It seems illogical. Is it because the renewal was against the laid down agenda of the government? Why would you suspend FCRA officials? Is it because they did things by the book and acted honestly without any bias or prejudice when they renewed IRF’s registration? Is it because they were not influenced by the political agenda of the MHA?”

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.