NEW DELHI: conflict-ridden preacher Zakir Naik deliberately insulted the spiritual beliefs of Hindus, Christians and Islamic sects like Shia, Sufi, and Barelvi, and his speeches prejudiced recruits to the cause of the so-called Islamic State, the National Investigation Agency has said.
The agency has charges heated the "televangelist" under the illegal Activities (Prevention) Act for heading an 'unlawful association' and alleged him of rabble-rousing youth to take up terror acts and connections with global terror groups like Islamic State.
Naik's NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), banned in 2016 under the UAPA, as well as private firm Harmony Media Pvt Ltd were named as co-accused for having work against with Naik to support antagonism and hatred between different religious groups and insulting certain sects of Islam and other religions .
Zakir Naik had "deliberately" and "maliciously" insulted beliefs of Hindus, Christians and certain Muslim sects that did not pledge to Wahhabism, with the aim to indignation religious feelings, and IRF and Harmony Media were instrumental in the broadcasting of incriminating speeches in the form of CDs/DVDs/TV programmes, the NIA asserted.
The other one case registered by the NIA is that of Arshi Asif Qureshi, a supporter of Naik and an IRF employee. Around July 2016, Qureshi was arrested, in a case cited in Kerala, on charges of powerfully converting two individuals to Islam and recruiting for the IS.
NIA quoted, on a number of time, Naik's public speeches "led to communal tension... creating serious law and order situations".
The charge sheet alleged "Naik was not considered an Islamic scholar, although he had memorized the Quran and Hadith". "His knowledge of Islam was very poor," it further added.
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