Appropriate action against preacher Zakir Naik: Govt

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik faced more heat today with the Government saying “appropriate action” will be taken against him over his speeches that were reported to have inspired some of the Dhaka attackers, calling it “highly objectionable”.

As Mumbai-based Naik came under the scanner, senior Congress leader Digivjaya Singh was in the BJP’s line of fire after a 2012 video showing him share a dais with the 50-year-old televangelist praising him at an event to promote communal harmony surfaced today.

Security personnel were deployed outside Naik’s ‘Islamic Research Foundation’ office at Dongri area in South Mumbai as a precautionary measure in the wake of the escalating row over his alleged hate speeches.

“The Home Ministry will study (his speeches). It will take appropriate action after studying them. His speeches, as being reported in the media, are highly objectionable,” the new Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in Delhi. (AGENCIES)