New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs has prepared a Cabinet note to declare controversial Islamic scholar Zakir Naik's NGO Islamic Research Foundation an 'unlawful organisation', sources said on Wednesday.
Sources told CNN-News18 that investigations by the Home Ministry found four grounds for the NGO to be banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, putting an end to months of speculation on its legal validity.
According to the MHA's draft note, Naik, who heads the IRF, has allegedly made many provocative speeches and engaged in terror propaganda.
Police in Maharashtra and Odisha have registered criminal cases against Naik for his alleged involvement in radicalisation of youths and luring them into terror activities, a source said. Naik also allegedly transferred IRF's foreign funds to Peace TV for making "objectionable" programmes.
Most of the programmes, which were made in India, contained alleged hate speeches of Naik, who had reportedly "urged all Muslims to be terrorists" through Peace TV, sources claimed.
The 50-year-old Mumbai-based preacher came under the scanner of the security agencies after Bangladeshi newspaper Daily Star reported that one of the perpetrators of the Dhaka cafe attack in July quoted Naik in a Facebook post.
Naik in a lecture, aired on Peace TV, had reportedly "urged all Muslims to be terrorists". The Islamic orator is banned in the UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against other religions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia.
Naik has denied all these allegations. “It is totally illogical to say that I promote terrorism. Not a single investigative agency says Dr Zakir Naik promotes terrorism. The Home Ministry is most welcome to go through all my speeches," he told CNN-News18 in July.
Sources said the MHA's note will be put up before a meeting of the Union Cabinet for approval next week.
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