Asadadudin Owaisi, President of AIMIM has condemned the media trial of Zakir Naik, calling him a ‘specialist of comparative religions’ who has been ‘hounded’ by media attention. Aamir Naru, the social media administrator of AIMIM tweeted the official party statement on Naik. The party has argued that no one can be pronounced a terrorist based on hearsay and if Naik has violated the law, then a case should be registered against him.
Interestingly, the statement also correlates Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s rise to power with investigating agencies accusing a person of wrongdoing without evidence. In its defence of Naik, a televangelist who has come under fire for his religious sermons which are considered to be propagating hate, AIMIM has stated that there are many in the Muslim community in India who do not agree with Naik’s views. And that his speeches should be seen as ‘differences of opinions and views about certain rituals.’
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)