The SID officers found no strong evidence to link Zakir Naik to terror-related activities.
Mumbai, July 12: In a major relief for Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik, Maharashtra State Intelligence Department (SID) found no reason to register a case against the televangelist for now. Zakir Naik, who cancelled his plan to return to India on Monday, has been given clean chit by SID, that is handling the investigation of the Zakir Naik case ordered by the Maharashtra government. The SID sources added that Zakir Naik will not and cannot be arrested on his return to India based on the evidence against him.
The SID, after watching and listening hundreds of YouTube videos and speeches given by the controversial preacher Zakir Naik in and out of India, reached to the conclusion that no case can be made out against him for now, except the charge of hurting religious sentiments. The SID also investigated the evidences collected from the other intelligence teams in various states and found no direct or indirect link between Zakir Naik and terrorists. (ALSO READ: Bangladesh bans televangelist Zakir Naik’s Peace TV)
“There is no case to be made out against the English-speaking preacher, except maybe the possible charge of hurting religious sentiments, but even that cannot be established from his speeches. We are tracking his movements and only if he speaks out of turn, can we ‘pin’ him down on a charge. For now, we are closely monitoring him,” a senior police official was quoted as saying by the Hindu.
According to the report of the Hindu, the SID officers found no strong evidence to link Zakir Naik to terror-related activities. The officials also said that Naik’s past controversial statements Taliban, Osama bin Laden and ISIS do not result in any direct or indirect charges against him. Zakir Naik’s speeches are believed to have inspired some of the Bangladeshi militants, who killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, at an upscale restaurant in Dhaka on July 1.
http://www.india.com/news/india/clean-chit-to-zakir-naik-maharashtra-sid-wont-arrest-islamic-preacher-1325455/
Petitioning Press Council of India
Indian Media: Stop the vilification campaign against Dr. Zakir Naik
#WeStandWithDrZakirNaik
Following the tragic and inhuman attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 1st July 2016, against innocent civilians by a group of young men, allegedly affiliated to the terror group ISIS, reports have started to appear in Indian newspapers, which deliberately attempt to link Islamic Scholar Dr. Zakir Naik to the attackers.
The reports claim that Dr. Zakir Naik, in his speeches has called on Muslims to "be terrorists" and have linked him to be an inspiration behind two of the attackers behind the massacre (Source: ET). They claim that one of them had shared Dr. Naik's quote on Facebook (Source: ET), and another followed him on Twitter (Source: The Hindu).
"Every Muslim should be a terrorist remark" - Dr.Zakir Naik has been purposely quoted out of context here. What Dr.Zakir Naik said was - "A terrorist is a person who causes terror. The moment a robber sees a policeman he is terrified. A policeman is a terrorist for the robber. Similarly, every Muslim should be a terrorist for the antisocial elements of society, such as thieves, dacoits, and rapists. Whenever such an anti-social element sees a Muslim, he should be terrified. It is true that the word ‘terrorist’ is generally used for a person who causes terror among the common people. But a true Muslim should only be a terrorist to selective people i.e. anti-social elements, and not to the common innocent people. In fact, a Muslim should be a source of peace for innocent people."
Regarding the claim that one of the terrorists quoted Dr.Zaik Naik on Facebook - Again here, does it prove anything at all. Should the newspapers not have stated what he said exactly and how that influenced the terrorists to carry out an attack.
Dr. Zakir Naik is a world-renowned Islamic scholar and speaker, who is a doctor by education. For more than two decades now, Dr. Naik has been giving lectures and holding debates with numerous high-ranking figures of various faiths across the world, including India.
In his speeches and debates, which is available on the internet, he mainly talks about comparative religion, quoting religious texts of various faiths to bridge gaps between communities.
Dr. Zakir Naik has stated many times that ISIS is 'un-Islamic’ and has called the terror group enemies of Islam. Dr.Zakir has unequivocally said "By using the name Islamic State, we are condemning Islam… They are the anti-Islamic state of Iraq and Syria that has killed innocent foreigners. The name is given by enemies of Islam". (Source: DC)
So the question is, If Dr. Naik says ISIS is 'un-Islamic’, how can he inspire ISIS terrorists?
It is not only misleading, for newspapers to link a public figure like Dr. Naik -who millions of Muslims listen to around the world- to the attackers, but in reports such as this (Source: The Hindu) and this (Source: NDTV) false information has been published to tarnish his image.
The report dated July 05, 2016, in NDTV states that Dr. Naik is banned in Malaysia, which is again untrue. He recently gave a lecture in Malaysia (Source: Astro Awani).
In the NewsHour program on TimesNow, Arnab Goswami ran a media trial against Dr. Naik, accusing him of 'backing suicide bombing' and lying that his words, 'inspire terrorists' across the world.
Goswami and his research team have deliberately broadcast lies against Dr. Naik, without any proofs for their claims.
If, Dr. Zakir Naik is behind these attacks and attackers, how come there is not even an iota of proof against him?
Dr. Zakir Naik has never said anything, which goes against the Constitution of India, in any of his speeches. Practising and propagating one's religion in a peaceful manner is a right every citizen of this country enjoys.
Newspapers' and channels' role is to report facts, based on thorough investigation and not to publish over-blown, stigmatising and scaremongering reports, as is clearly evident in these and many other reports.
Media houses are creating a negative public opinion against Dr. Zakir Naik to push through their nefarious agenda.
The vilification campaign headed by Indian media against Dr. Zakir Naik must stop.
The below-signed petitioners request that the Press Council of India investigate the agenda behind these reports, and have them cease their campaign of hate and vilification towards Dr. Zakir Naik. We also urge the Council to demand the media houses involved, to issue an apology to Dr. Zakir Naik for tarnishing his image and making a criminal out of a law-abiding and peace-loving citizen of India.
Please sign and share this petition and together we can have the malicious campaign against Dr. Zakir Naik stopped.
This petition will be delivered to:
Press Council of India
Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad
Read the letter
Dr Zakir Naik
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Regular protests have been held following the attacks
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has suggested an Israeli link to the recent killings of secular bloggers and minorities.
He said an opposition politician had met an Israeli intelligence agent and there was evidence of an "international conspiracy" against Bangladesh.
He gave no more evidence. Israel says the claim is nonsense.
Critics say the government is in denial about the killings, most of which have been blamed on or claimed by Islamists.
Mr Khan's comments come a day after the wife of a senior police officer investigating the deaths was shot dead.
The governing Awami League has sought in the past to link the opposition to the attacks. Relations with the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) remain fraught following the disputed 2014 general election.
Muslim-majority but officially secular Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel and supports the Palestinians.
Analysis: Waliur Rahman, BBC Bengali editor in Dhaka
Any vilification of Israel will certainly please the vast number of Bangladeshis who support the cause of the Palestinians and bring some political dividends for any Bangladeshi party.
But the government is facing critical questions internationally, especially about the investigation into the series of killings.
Only one murder has so far come to trial.
While the government sees a conspiracy to block the country's advancement, Islamist groups continue to grow in strength and strike almost routinely at one of the state's basic tenets - secularism.
Who is behind the Bangladesh killings?
Is extremism on the rise in Bangladesh?
Lurching from secularism to sectarian terror?
"Bangladesh has become the target of an international conspiracy. And a foreign intelligence agency has joined the conspiracy," Mr Khan said.
When asked to elaborate, he said: "You must have noticed that an Israeli intelligence agent had a meeting with a politician, it does not need to be verified further, all Bangladeshi know about it."
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told the BBC the suggestion of Israeli involvement was "utter drivel".
Opposition MP Aslam Chowdhury was recently arrested and charged with sedition after he was pictured meeting Israeli government adviser Mendi Safadi in India.
Mr Chowdhury described his visit to India as a business trip and has denied meeting an Israeli intelligence agent.
Media captionBangladeshi liberals are afraid of who might be next
The latest violence was in the southern port city of Chittagong, where Mahmuda Aktar was stabbed and shot in the head on Sunday in front of her six-year-old son.
Her husband, Supt Babul Aktar, is investigating the banned Islamist Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh group (JMB) and she has been a prominent campaigner against religious extremism.
Also on Sunday, a Christian grocer was hacked to death in the north-western village of Bonpara. So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the murder of Sunil Gomes.
Police say more than 40 people have been killed since January last year in the wave of attacks on those seen by extremists as offensive to Islam.
The government insists that IS does not have a presence in Bangladesh and has tended to blame the opposition and local militant groups.
Critics have accused the government of failing to properly address the violence in Bangladesh.
Who is being targeted?
The grim list of those who have fallen victim to attacks by Islamist militants in Bangladesh is growing ever diverse.
Secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, and members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus have all been killed, many of them hacked to death.
When a university professor whose family said believed in God was murdered in April, it suggested the list of those at risk had widened further.
Who exactly is behind the attacks remains murky. Bangladesh has myriad extremist groups and there have been few convictions over the attacks.
Bangladesh has disputed claims by so-called Islamic State or al-Qaeda-linked groups for the attacks, instead often blaming opposition parties or local Islamist groups.
But until the killings stop the government itself will face accusations of not doing enough to protect minorities in the Sunni-dominated nation.
Mumbai, July 12: In a major relief for Islamic preacher Dr Zakir Naik, Maharashtra State Intelligence Department (SID) found no reason to register a case against the televangelist for now. Zakir Naik, who cancelled his plan to return to India on Monday, has been given clean chit by SID, that is handling the investigation of the Zakir Naik case ordered by the Maharashtra government. The SID sources added that Zakir Naik will not and cannot be arrested on his return to India based on the evidence against him.
The SID, after watching and listening hundreds of YouTube videos and speeches given by the controversial preacher Zakir Naik in and out of India, reached to the conclusion that no case can be made out against him for now, except the charge of hurting religious sentiments. The SID also investigated the evidences collected from the other intelligence teams in various states and found no direct or indirect link between Zakir Naik and terrorists. (ALSO READ: Bangladesh bans televangelist Zakir Naik’s Peace TV)
“There is no case to be made out against the English-speaking preacher, except maybe the possible charge of hurting religious sentiments, but even that cannot be established from his speeches. We are tracking his movements and only if he speaks out of turn, can we ‘pin’ him down on a charge. For now, we are closely monitoring him,” a senior police official was quoted as saying by the Hindu.
According to the report of the Hindu, the SID officers found no strong evidence to link Zakir Naik to terror-related activities. The officials also said that Naik’s past controversial statements Taliban, Osama bin Laden and ISIS do not result in any direct or indirect charges against him. Zakir Naik’s speeches are believed to have inspired some of the Bangladeshi militants, who killed 22 people, mostly foreigners, at an upscale restaurant in Dhaka on July 1.
http://www.india.com/news/india/clean-chit-to-zakir-naik-maharashtra-sid-wont-arrest-islamic-preacher-1325455/
Petitioning Press Council of India
Indian Media: Stop the vilification campaign against Dr. Zakir Naik
#WeStandWithDrZakirNaik
Following the tragic and inhuman attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh on 1st July 2016, against innocent civilians by a group of young men, allegedly affiliated to the terror group ISIS, reports have started to appear in Indian newspapers, which deliberately attempt to link Islamic Scholar Dr. Zakir Naik to the attackers.
The reports claim that Dr. Zakir Naik, in his speeches has called on Muslims to "be terrorists" and have linked him to be an inspiration behind two of the attackers behind the massacre (Source: ET). They claim that one of them had shared Dr. Naik's quote on Facebook (Source: ET), and another followed him on Twitter (Source: The Hindu).
"Every Muslim should be a terrorist remark" - Dr.Zakir Naik has been purposely quoted out of context here. What Dr.Zakir Naik said was - "A terrorist is a person who causes terror. The moment a robber sees a policeman he is terrified. A policeman is a terrorist for the robber. Similarly, every Muslim should be a terrorist for the antisocial elements of society, such as thieves, dacoits, and rapists. Whenever such an anti-social element sees a Muslim, he should be terrified. It is true that the word ‘terrorist’ is generally used for a person who causes terror among the common people. But a true Muslim should only be a terrorist to selective people i.e. anti-social elements, and not to the common innocent people. In fact, a Muslim should be a source of peace for innocent people."
Regarding the claim that one of the terrorists quoted Dr.Zaik Naik on Facebook - Again here, does it prove anything at all. Should the newspapers not have stated what he said exactly and how that influenced the terrorists to carry out an attack.
Dr. Zakir Naik is a world-renowned Islamic scholar and speaker, who is a doctor by education. For more than two decades now, Dr. Naik has been giving lectures and holding debates with numerous high-ranking figures of various faiths across the world, including India.
In his speeches and debates, which is available on the internet, he mainly talks about comparative religion, quoting religious texts of various faiths to bridge gaps between communities.
Dr. Zakir Naik has stated many times that ISIS is 'un-Islamic’ and has called the terror group enemies of Islam. Dr.Zakir has unequivocally said "By using the name Islamic State, we are condemning Islam… They are the anti-Islamic state of Iraq and Syria that has killed innocent foreigners. The name is given by enemies of Islam". (Source: DC)
So the question is, If Dr. Naik says ISIS is 'un-Islamic’, how can he inspire ISIS terrorists?
It is not only misleading, for newspapers to link a public figure like Dr. Naik -who millions of Muslims listen to around the world- to the attackers, but in reports such as this (Source: The Hindu) and this (Source: NDTV) false information has been published to tarnish his image.
The report dated July 05, 2016, in NDTV states that Dr. Naik is banned in Malaysia, which is again untrue. He recently gave a lecture in Malaysia (Source: Astro Awani).
In the NewsHour program on TimesNow, Arnab Goswami ran a media trial against Dr. Naik, accusing him of 'backing suicide bombing' and lying that his words, 'inspire terrorists' across the world.
Goswami and his research team have deliberately broadcast lies against Dr. Naik, without any proofs for their claims.
If, Dr. Zakir Naik is behind these attacks and attackers, how come there is not even an iota of proof against him?
Dr. Zakir Naik has never said anything, which goes against the Constitution of India, in any of his speeches. Practising and propagating one's religion in a peaceful manner is a right every citizen of this country enjoys.
Newspapers' and channels' role is to report facts, based on thorough investigation and not to publish over-blown, stigmatising and scaremongering reports, as is clearly evident in these and many other reports.
Media houses are creating a negative public opinion against Dr. Zakir Naik to push through their nefarious agenda.
The vilification campaign headed by Indian media against Dr. Zakir Naik must stop.
The below-signed petitioners request that the Press Council of India investigate the agenda behind these reports, and have them cease their campaign of hate and vilification towards Dr. Zakir Naik. We also urge the Council to demand the media houses involved, to issue an apology to Dr. Zakir Naik for tarnishing his image and making a criminal out of a law-abiding and peace-loving citizen of India.
Please sign and share this petition and together we can have the malicious campaign against Dr. Zakir Naik stopped.
This petition will be delivered to:
Press Council of India
Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad
Read the letter
Dr Zakir Naik
Image copyrightAFP
Image caption
Regular protests have been held following the attacks
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has suggested an Israeli link to the recent killings of secular bloggers and minorities.
He said an opposition politician had met an Israeli intelligence agent and there was evidence of an "international conspiracy" against Bangladesh.
He gave no more evidence. Israel says the claim is nonsense.
Critics say the government is in denial about the killings, most of which have been blamed on or claimed by Islamists.
Mr Khan's comments come a day after the wife of a senior police officer investigating the deaths was shot dead.
The governing Awami League has sought in the past to link the opposition to the attacks. Relations with the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP) remain fraught following the disputed 2014 general election.
Muslim-majority but officially secular Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel and supports the Palestinians.
Analysis: Waliur Rahman, BBC Bengali editor in Dhaka
Any vilification of Israel will certainly please the vast number of Bangladeshis who support the cause of the Palestinians and bring some political dividends for any Bangladeshi party.
But the government is facing critical questions internationally, especially about the investigation into the series of killings.
Only one murder has so far come to trial.
While the government sees a conspiracy to block the country's advancement, Islamist groups continue to grow in strength and strike almost routinely at one of the state's basic tenets - secularism.
Who is behind the Bangladesh killings?
Is extremism on the rise in Bangladesh?
Lurching from secularism to sectarian terror?
"Bangladesh has become the target of an international conspiracy. And a foreign intelligence agency has joined the conspiracy," Mr Khan said.
When asked to elaborate, he said: "You must have noticed that an Israeli intelligence agent had a meeting with a politician, it does not need to be verified further, all Bangladeshi know about it."
Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told the BBC the suggestion of Israeli involvement was "utter drivel".
Opposition MP Aslam Chowdhury was recently arrested and charged with sedition after he was pictured meeting Israeli government adviser Mendi Safadi in India.
Mr Chowdhury described his visit to India as a business trip and has denied meeting an Israeli intelligence agent.
Media captionBangladeshi liberals are afraid of who might be next
The latest violence was in the southern port city of Chittagong, where Mahmuda Aktar was stabbed and shot in the head on Sunday in front of her six-year-old son.
Her husband, Supt Babul Aktar, is investigating the banned Islamist Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh group (JMB) and she has been a prominent campaigner against religious extremism.
Also on Sunday, a Christian grocer was hacked to death in the north-western village of Bonpara. So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the murder of Sunil Gomes.
Police say more than 40 people have been killed since January last year in the wave of attacks on those seen by extremists as offensive to Islam.
The government insists that IS does not have a presence in Bangladesh and has tended to blame the opposition and local militant groups.
Critics have accused the government of failing to properly address the violence in Bangladesh.
Who is being targeted?
The grim list of those who have fallen victim to attacks by Islamist militants in Bangladesh is growing ever diverse.
Secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, and members of religious minorities including Shia, Sufi and Ahmadi Muslims, Christians and Hindus have all been killed, many of them hacked to death.
When a university professor whose family said believed in God was murdered in April, it suggested the list of those at risk had widened further.
Who exactly is behind the attacks remains murky. Bangladesh has myriad extremist groups and there have been few convictions over the attacks.
Bangladesh has disputed claims by so-called Islamic State or al-Qaeda-linked groups for the attacks, instead often blaming opposition parties or local Islamist groups.
But until the killings stop the government itself will face accusations of not doing enough to protect minorities in the Sunni-dominated nation.