Team News Riveting
New Delhi, November 16
The Centre has extended the ban imposed on Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) set up by Zakir Naik for another five years.
Naik has been accused of inspiring Muslim youths in India and abroad to commit terror acts. He has been allegedly spreading hatred among different communities through his Peace TV and social media networks where he has over 20 million followers.
Born in Mumbai, Naik fled India in the wake of the 2016 Dhaka bombing in which 20 people including 17 foreign nationals were killed. He is currently living in Malaysia.
In a late-night notification, the Union Home Ministry said the IRF has been indulging in activities which are prejudicial to the security of the country and have the potential of disturbing peace and communal harmony and disrupting the secular fabric of the country and hence declared unlawful under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA.
The IRF was first banned under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act by the central government on November 17, 2016.
After the July 1, 2016 bombing at a cafe in Dhaka, one of the bombers of the Bangladesh capital had said that he was inspired by Naik’s speeches.
