NEW DELHI: The government on Friday issued a notification extending the ban on controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) as an unlawful association for another five years.
Announcing the decision Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the outfit has been involved in sinister anti-India designs, including inciting communal hatred and promoting terrorism.
In an ‘X’ post, Shah said, “In steadfast adherence to PM Shri @narendramodi Ji’s vision of zero tolerance towards terrorism and anti-national activities, MHA extends the ban on the Islamic Research Foundation as an unlawful association under the UAPA. Led by fugitive terror preacher Dr Zakir Naik, the organisation has been involved in sinister anti-India designs, including inciting communal hatred and promoting terrorism.”
“The group has been found to be propagating a venomous ideology of terrorism and separatism, instigating violent unrest, encouraging the regrouping of absconding terrorists and fomenting communal discord,” he noted.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued the notification under Section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, extending the prohibition on the organisation with effect from the date of publication in the Official Gazette. The decision comes ahead of the expiry of the existing ban on November 14.
According to the MHA notification, Naik and the IRF have allegedly been encouraging and aiding followers to promote disharmony, hatred and ill-will between different religious communities on religious grounds. The ministry described Naik’s speeches and statements as objectionable and subversive, alleging that they could influence vulnerable sections, particularly young people, to engage in extremist and terrorist activities.
The government further alleged that Naik has used international satellite television networks, the internet, print publications and social media to disseminate radical views to millions of people in India and abroad. His speeches, the ministry said, have the potential to inspire youths belonging to a particular religious community to commit terrorist acts.
The MHA has warned that failure to curb the organisation’s activities could allow it to regroup its absconding activists, resume subversive operations, spread anti-national sentiments and fuel secessionist tendencies by supporting militancy. Such activities, it said, could create communal tensions and adversely affect the country’s sovereignty, integrity and security.
Founded by Naik in Mumbai in February 1991, the IRF came under the government’s scanner over allegations that it was promoting religious hatred and radicalisation.
Naik had subsequently left India and moved to Malaysia, where he obtained permanent residency.
The Centre first declared the IRF an unlawful association on November 17, 2016, imposing a five-year ban under the UAPA. The prohibition was subsequently extended on November 15, 2021, for another five years. The latest notification marks the third consecutive five-year period of prohibition on the organisation.
The extension follows the statutory adjudication process under the UAPA. A tribunal constituted under Section 5 of the Act to determine whether sufficient grounds existed for declaring the IRF an unlawful association had upheld the government’s decision through its orders dated May 22, 2017, and March 30, 2022.
