NEW DELHI: Controversial Salafist preacher Zakir Naik has shifted his radicalisation activities to Nepal following the ban on his outfits in India under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Naik’s Pakistan connection also emerged during the probe by intelligence agencies.
Naik’s cadres recently visited Kathmandu, Krishnanagar and Siraha and Birganj districts in the Terai region.
They organised Street Daawah for recruitment and distributed misinterpreted Islamic literature. Recruits are randomly selected during Street Daawah, their phone numbers, residential and e-mail addresses are collected and they are radicalised through concocted Islamic literature
and brainwashing.
Naik has also funded Nepal-based outfits Al Bayyan Islamic Centre in Birganj and Islamic Peace Research Foundation in the Terai belt. These are affiliated to International Islamic Centre, Sargodha, Pakistan. All these campaigns are spearheaded by Farhat Hashmi’s Islamic International Centre. Hashmi also runs Al Huda International in Canada, which converts Christians to Islam.
“Following the tightening of the noose around him by agencies here, Naik was under pressure to keep his network of radicalised cadres intact,” a senior intelligence official said.
“The action by the NIA against Zakir Naik is a step towards containment of his jihadi activities in India and a severe jolt to the regional network of radicalisation being run by him,” counter-terrorism expert Rituraj Mate said.