So, the government puts Zakir Naik’s NGO, the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) Educational Trust, under prior permission list. Well, better late than never. But I wonder why it has taken so long? Did we really need the killings of innocent people in Bangladesh, including an Indian, to realize the venom spread by the man?
Any person who professes that his religion is better than others doesn’t deserve a place in a normal society. Then how come none of our esteemed journalists picked up this matter? Not “Sanghi” enough for it to be an issue? Or because he belongs to a particular community against whom the esteemed journalists have taken an oath of silence. In either case, it’s the best example of bigotry that these “neutral” journalists reek of.
Zakir Naik has been making hate speeches and demeaning other religions since a while.
In fact, that is his claim to fame. The irony is in the name of his channel “Peace TV”. You can YouTube him or read up on him in Wikipedia. Here’s a man who suggests death penalty for homosexuality, defends the right of a man to hit a woman “mildly” to rectify her behavior, states he is with Osama if he is terrorizing America, defends Islamic states who do not allow building of temples or churches because those religions are false and only Islam is true (Have you heard his 2+2=4 analogy? If not, watch it below), refutes the theory of gravitation because “plants grow upwards”, refutes the theory of evolution stating it is a theory, not a fact as he has never heard anything stating it’s called the Fact of Evolution.
Is he for real? Zakir Naik really doesn’t understand the scientific term called “Theory”, and he claims to be a doctor? Imagine someone from RSS, VHP, or Bajrang Dal doing this? Can you imagine the headlines on certain channels?
UK and Canada found the beliefs of Zakir Naik radical enough for him to be denied visa, but it wasn’t radical enough for us in India. Look at the intolerance of the Brits and Canadians!
Anyway, the fact that this man has been allowed to thrive in our society till now doesn’t set a good precedent. For a secular nation, we talk way too much about religion instead of ignoring it completely, hence allowing for fanaticism to exist.
Which makes me wonder, who exactly is this man’s audience? Not the average man. An average man, irrespective of his religion, doesn’t have the time, the will, or the aptitude to listen to such rubbish. So who is his audience? Who funds him? What do they propagate? Clearly, their intentions can’t be good! They just can’t! If I pay someone to continue to spread nuisance in my locality or other localities, I am surely not a peace monger. If I want to listen to and enjoy listening to someone who rants about how our religion is the best in the world and others who don’t follow it are to put it politely – “Not nice”, doesn’t speak highly of me as a person.
This makes me look at the entire circle with apprehension – The audience, the speaker and the organizer. There are terrorists who have been “inspired” by our man, Zakir Naik; Dhaka attacks of 2016, Mumbai Train bombings of 2006 [Source: “Intelligence agencies find link between Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation and Jamaat-ud-Dawa”. 8 July 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2016]. It is a cause for worry that someone’s speeches can be taken out of context to such an extent that people believe it is all right to kill other people. If following a user manual can lead to misinterpretations leading to catastrophic results frequently, then the wording of the user manual needs to be rectified as much as the intelligence of the user needs to be ascertained.
To top it all, Zakir Naik has fled the nation, the base from where he operates. If there is nothing wrong in his teachings, there’s really no need for him to run away. He has enough security anyway. It really doesn’t add up, does it?
Thankfully, the current government has taken a stand to tackle this menace. No further foreign investments into IRF will go unnoticed. That’s a start.
There are further steps that need to be taken:
• Investigations into all the previous investments made in IRF and what has all that money been used for
• Thorough monitoring of views expressed on the channel Peace TV
• The channel to be treated with the same seriousness as any other channel or content that hurts the sentiments of practitioners of other religions
• If (using “if” as a formality) the channel is found to be spreading hate and demeaning other religions, it is unconstitutional and ought to be banned completely
• Have a fair trial based on the outcome of the investigation
The government is also planning to declare the IRF illegal under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Soon, the ministry will move the cabinet for its nod
