Finally the cloak was thrown away and the dragger drawn, albeit through remote control. Learning from the opposition was always a good thing. Perhaps, Subramanian Swamy inspired him, the way he pursued his cases against Gandhis – with a vengeance. Or Arun Jaitley might have, for in the court of Law, Arvind Kejriwal had to declare ‘he never took the name of Arun Jaitley and claimed that he swindled money at DDCA”. Whatever the motivating factor was, finally Zakir Naik, despite not having the courage to face the law in person as he was still on ‘self-imposed exile’ (like Mallya?) on the pretence of ‘touring Africa, preaching PEACE’, finally took some action on the ‘hate campaign’ being run by Arnab Goswami.
In the notice issued to Arnab Goswami and four others of Times Now, his lawyer wrote a brief biography of Zakir Naik, but I noted few grammatical errors. May be Mr Naik should have drafted the notice himself, for he was very good with words and of course, with grammar also.
And then given was the long list of quotes made by Arnab on newshour in the last one month, date wise. If Arnab doesn’t keep a diary, he need not worry. He can simply copy and paste. Coming to the notice, it states that Zakir Naik’s character is being attacked by Arnab scathingly. His lawyer says that Arnab quoted Zakir’s speeches out of context and some were picked from those ‘doctored’ speeches available on YouTube/Internet. What I don’t understand is why Mr Naik took any action against those who posted those doctored speeches on YouTube? Am I wrong, if I presume that their presence on YouTube helps his mission of inducing innocent Muslims (this is no tongue-in-cheek remark, but truth) to become radicals?
Zakir Naik feels the media trial by Arnab is influencing general public and the investigation being carried out on the instructions of Maharashtra Government. He also claims he had not received any notice from such any agency with regard to such probe. I don’t understand how Arnab can influence the probe that doesn’t exist. Even if there is one such probe, if investigating agencies are affected by media trials, by now Amit Shah and Narendra Modi would have been convicted, for the way they were targeted by entire media for over a decade.
Finally, he claimed that ‘Daily Star’ of Bangladesh, which was quoted by all Indian newspapers had clarified that they never linked the terrorist attack in Bangladesh to Zakir Naik. So, Arnab should not claim that Mr Naik inspired terrorists. If so, I expect the first action of Zakir Naik to ask the Bangladesh government that banned his ‘Peace TV’. Instead he choose to question Arnab. Hmmm!
And in this fight Zakir Naik was not alone. He claims to have the support of twenty organisations that vouch for him, for hurting religious sentiments of Muslims. Correct! Without someone supporting, how is it possible for him to own such a vast business empire?
The notice climaxes with a claim that ‘though Mr Naik couldn’t exactly estimate the damages’ they claimed a sum of INR500 Crores from Arnab Goswami for the defamation of Zakir Naik.
Let Arnab act on the notice. But, I wonder, if someone choose to file a defamation suit against Zakir Naik, what would be his position? He may consult Arvind Kejriwal, for a start.
Being someone who ridiculed Hindu gods without any regard to ‘hurting religious sentiments’ of Hindus, he had such concern about religious sentiments of Muslims. And, from his name itself, it is evident his forefathers were Hindus. Yes, there were some Hindu families who voluntarily embraced Islam, some on understanding, some to escape from the caste discrimination. But, there were many families who were forced to convert to the religion of rulers. I should not question the reason why and how his family had converted, I presume.
Zakir Naik may practise Islam, if he truly believes in it. That never was a problem. But, preaching Islam by ridiculing Hindus, based on the financial muscle provided and sustained by Arabs, if he claims to be a ‘peaceful preacher’, I have a problem. Hope, he and his ilk understands it.
As he said in one interview that true Islam doesn’t have sects like Shias, Sunnis and various others, I wonder what the purpose of his preaching in India was. He should be preaching Saudi Arabia and Iran and Iraq and other Islamic nations to erase the national barriers and establish one Caliph. Then I think even Arnab Goswami wouldn’t mind Zakir’s talk shows.