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Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who was charged with hate speech, promoting enmity between groups and money laundering in India, has reportedly been called by the hosts of the FIFA World Cup 2022 hosts Qatar for preaching religious lectures. He has arrived in Qatar according to the Mint and will be delivering these speeches throughout the competition.
The accused preacher fled the country in 2016 after he was named in an FIR and his organisation Islamic Research Foundation was banned. In 2019, he was banned from delivering speeches in Malaysia, where was living after leaving India. Meanwhile, his Peace TV network is also banned in Bangladesh, Canada, Sri Lanka and the UK, The Tribune reported.
“Naik has also been further inspiring the Muslim youth and terrorists in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts,” the Ministry of Home Affairs notification said while banning his organisation. Earlier, the ban was extended for another five years.
In a notification, the Union home ministry said that the IRF has been indulging in activities that threaten the security of the country and can also disturb the peace and communal harmony of the country. Naik’s speech is also said to have instigated the 2016 Dhaka bombing which killed 20 people and the Easter 2019 bombing in Sri Lanka which killed over 250, according to The Tribune.
The news of him being at the football world cup was spread through social media, according to NDTV. “Preacher Sheikh Zakir Naik is present in Qatar during the World Cup and will give many religious lectures throughout the tournament,” Al Arabiya News quoted Faisal Alhajri, a presenter at the Qatari state-owned sports channel Alkass, as saying on Twitter on Saturday.
The FIFA world cup began in Qatar on Monday, with a match between hosts Qatar and South American side Ecuador.
