New Delhi: Controversial right-wing leader Sadhvi Prachi has called for 'beheading' Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, announcing she will give Rs 50 lakh reward to anyone who does it.
Speaking to reporters in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, Prachi justified the reward saying Naik was not an Islamic preacher but a “terrorist”.
Prachi, an ex-VHP leader, said she was announcing the reward in her personal capacity and not as a leader of any organisation.
She further urged the government to investigate the links of all “such preachers working in madrasas” with terrorists, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Prachi later told the newspaper that she had received an anonymous threat after she announced the reward.
She said the caller, who introduced himself as Shahid, threatened to abduct her. She will be filing a police complaint regarding the threat this morning.
On Tuesday, a Shia group, known as Hussaini Tigers, had announced a Rs 15 lakh award on Naik’s head.
“He (Naik) is a ‘khalnayak’. He has insulted the Prophet and whosoever kills him would be rewarded not only in life…but would also get cash reward from us,” Hussaini Tigers chief Syed Kalbe Hussain Naqvi wrote on Facebook.
Zakir Naik and his sermons have come under the scanner post the Dhaka cafe terror attack, after it was revealed that two of the terrorists were inspired by him.
Naik, who is in Medina in Saudi Arabia, was supposed to return to India this week but has delayed his return amid probes by various agencies into his activities.
First Published: Thursday, July 14, 2016 - 09:19
The shias, who have been at the receiving end of Zakir Naik's mockings, are expectedly up in arms against him.Maulana Yasoob Abbas, a top Shia cleric from Lucknow on Wednesday has demanded banning his speeches and also an investigative probe into his funding.
"The Saudi government is nurturing world terrorism, be it in the guise of Zakir Naik or ISIS or others. All these people and organisations are Saudi agents against whom the Indian government should make a swift intervention before it is too late, as is in the case of the recent Bangladesh attacks," said the Maulana who is also the spokesperson of the All India Shia Personal Law Board.
On the other side of the divide, Hyderabad-based Salafi organisation Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees (JAH) maintained that Naik "is an Islamic scholar who has nothing to do with terrorism". "It is wrong to do accuse him supporting terrorism," said secretary Shafiq Alam Khan.
Mufti Mohammed Omar Abedeen, an Islamic cleric from Darul Uloom, Deoband, has claimed that Naik was being targeted. "He has spoken of co-existence on several occasions. His statements are being cherry-picked and twisted."
Asaduddin Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen on Tuesday slammed the media for running a "trial" against the preacher. Party MLA from Aurangabad Imtiaz Jaleel, in a statement said: "By hounding Zakir Naik, the media, particularly some national television channels, have already pronounced their judgement even when a formal case is yet to be registered against him. On mere hearsay, the media cannot pronounce anybody as supporter of terrorism."
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