[The authorities have expressed alarm about
Dr. Naik’s message and the reach of his influence. Dr. Naik, who was trained as
a medical doctor and who addresses his followers in Western-style suits, has a
television channel, Peace TV, that is popular with Muslims globally. In his
speeches, Dr. Naik has harshly criticized the United States, saying that the
Sept. 11 attacks may have been an “inside job” by President George W. Bush.]
By Nida Najar
 |
Zakir Naik, a popular televangelist preacher, spoke by videoconference in July.
In his speeches, Dr. Naik has harshly criticized the United States.
Credit Rajanish Kakade/Associated Press
|
NEW DELHI — The Indian government has banned
a nongovernmental organization run by a popular televangelist preacher, Zakir
Naik, after accusations that he promoted terrorism through his speeches.
The decision to ban the organization, the
Islamic Research Foundation, was made at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, said K.
S. Dhatwalia, a spokesman for the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The foundation, based in Mumbai, will be
banned for five years under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, a law
governing groups and individuals who act counter to the integrity of India.
Mr. Dhatwalia said that the foundation had
violated “certain provisions” of the act. He declined to specify what those
provisions were but said that they had been conveyed to the organization.
The authorities have expressed alarm about
Dr. Naik’s message and the reach of his influence. Dr. Naik, who was trained as
a medical doctor and who addresses his followers in Western-style suits, has a
television channel, Peace TV, that is popular with Muslims globally. In his
speeches, Dr. Naik has harshly criticized the United States, saying that the
Sept. 11 attacks may have been an “inside job” by President George W. Bush.
Dr. Naik has also refused to renounce Osama
bin Laden as a terrorist.
“I am hesitant to accept him as a terrorist
or a saint,” Dr. Naik said in a 2009 interview. He also characterized Islam as
“the most misunderstood religion in the world.”
Dr. Naik is often evasive when questioned
over his more inflammatory statements, including one that supported suicide
attacks. In a news conference in Mumbai in July, in which he appeared by
videoconference from Saudi Arabia, he said that suicide attacks in which
innocent people were killed were un-Islamic, but that the use of the tactic was
justified in war.
The authorities in India, with its long
history of tension between Hindus and Muslims, have monitored Dr. Naik’s
activities, including his speeches and charitable work with the Islamic
Research Foundation, which seeks to spread “the proper presentation,
understanding and appreciation of Islam,” according to its website. That
scrutiny escalated after a Bangladeshi newspaper reported that one of the
attackers in the July assault on a bakery in Dhaka that left 22 people dead had
quoted Dr. Naik’s teachings in a Facebook post.
Peace TV has been banned in Bangladesh, and
Indian satellite channels have refused to carry it, but Dr. Naik’s sermons
still have a large audience in India and abroad.
At the July news conference in Mumbai, he
denied supporting terrorist activities and said that he did not encourage the
Dhaka attacks.
In past years, the Indian police have
registered cases against Dr. Naik over objectionable speeches he has made, the
local news media reported.
At the conference in July, however, Dr. Naik
said, “Never ever in my full life have I been called for investigation.”
Dr. Naik said that one of his videotaped
speeches that was used as the basis for one of the cases filed in India was
“doctored,” and “because of the clip, many of the Hindus were hurt and I said
that I apologize for hurting their feelings.”
The Islamic Research Foundation was not
immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
Ayesha Venkataraman contributed reporting
from Mumbai.