Days after Maharashtra government initiated probe into the alleged hate speeches of preacher Zakir Naik,
Bangladesh has also said it is investigating Islamist links of Naik. This comes in the wake of two brutal terrorist attacks in Bangaldesh that killed 25 people.
Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said that Bangladesh’s intelligence agencies are investigating the Islamic preacher.
“He is on our security scanner… Our intelligence agencies are investigating his activities as his lectures appeared provocative,” Khan said.
Not just that, Khan said that the investigators were also probing Naik’s financial transactions in Bangladesh.
But the government was yet to decide on banning the broadcast of his channel ‘Peace TV Bangla.’
File Photo of Islamic preacher Zakir Naik who runs Peace TV.
“Give us some more time for taking a decision in this regard…but I can tell you we have been receiving complaints about the provocative contents of his speeches,” Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu said.
Private TV cable operators in Bangladesh remain in confusion as they await a government directive whether or not to broadcast Naik’s television channel.
Naik’s controversial speeches are aired on ‘Peace TV’, which is run by his Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation. It was reported that his preachings had inspired some of the Dhaka attackers.
For several years Naik has been banned from visiting Britain and Canada. His lectures are also banned by Malaysia as they feared that they could instigate inter-racial tensions.
