FCRA licence renewal of Naik’s NGO: 4 MHA officials suspended

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Four officials of the Home Ministrywere tonight suspended for allegedly facilitating the renewalof FCRA licence of an NGO promoted by Islamic preacher ZakirNaik, against whom several probes are going on. The officials, including two Under Secretaries and oneSection Officer, were suspended after the Home Ministry foundthat Naik’s NGO Islamic Research Foundation’s FCRA licence wasrenewed recently despite several ongoing probes, including oneby it. "The action against two Under Secretaries and one SectionOfficer was due to their negligence in clearing the renewalwhile a case is still pending," Minister of State for HomeKiren Rijiju tweeted. In another tweet, Rijiju said the Home Ministry was veryclear that there should be smooth process of registration orrenewal of FCRA licence but not when there is a case pending."We had made the process of FCRA renewal online," he tweeted. Mumbai Police is also probing allegations against Naik. Naik is accused of radicalisation of youths into terrorand receiving foreign funds and spending such funds in luringyouths into radical views. He came under the scanner of the security agencies afterBangladeshi newspaper ‘Daily Star’ reported that one of theattackers of the July 1 terror strike in Dhaka, Rohan Imtiaz,ran a propaganda on Facebook last year quoting Naik. Naik in a lecture, aired on Peace TV, an internationalIslamic channel, had reportedly "urged all Muslims to beterrorists". The popular but controversial Islamic orator is banned inthe UK and Canada for his hate speech aimed against otherreligions. He is among 16 banned Islamic scholars in Malaysia. He is popular in Bangladesh through his Peace TV,although his preachings often demean other religions and evenother Muslim sects. PTI ACBZMN