NEW DELHI: India has begun an inquiry into the teachings of cleric Zakir Naik over allegations that his televised speeches inspired the recent massacre of foreigners in Dhaka, local reports said on Friday.

According to the reports, the Maharashtra government is looking into Dr Naik’s video speeches, and religious charity Peace he runs, to see if he could have influenced the taking of 20 hostages and their killing in a cafe in Dhaka last week.

According to NDTV, Bangla­desh said Dr Naik, whose sermons on television and online draw large audiences across the world, inspired two of the seven young terrorists that opened fire on Fri­day night in the upmarket cafe.

For India, a problem in the probe will be that Dr Naik is lavished with praise in Saudi Arabia, a country with which the Modi government has struck up close friendship.

A medical doctor, the preacher said he condemned the killing of innocent people.

Dr Naik, 50, has been on a religious trip to Makkah since Bangladesh was seared by the weekend attack. In videos made available to NDTV through his office in Mumbai, where the government has now stationed constables, the televangelist says he is “not shocked” that the Dhaka terrorists had cited him on social media in recent posts.

“More than 90 per cent Bangladeshis know me, more than 50pc are my fans,” he says in English, stressing, “Every fan of mine may not follow everything I say.” In the WhatsApp video, Dr Naik is quoted as saying: “I disagree that I inspired this act of killing innocent people”.

The televangelist, who wears western-style suits but with a skullcap in his broadcasts, has been reportedly banned from entering the United Kingdom and Canada. It is alleged that his incendiary remarks offer a defence of Osama bin Laden.

He has claimed that his speeches are often doctored to distort his comments.

The radical preacher has won hefty awards in countries like Saudi Arabia where he has been honoured for his “contribution to Islam”. His supporters say he cannot be accused of urging terrorist strikes, though he forcefully defends his religion and ultra-conservative tenets.

His satellite TV channel, Peace TV, is said to be banned in India, though it is aired by some cable TV operators. His Islamic Research Foundation, based in Mumbai, is described on its website as a charitable organisation committed to “the proper presentation, understanding and appreciation of Islam, as well as removing misconceptions about Islam — amongst less aware Muslims and non-Muslims”.

India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party attacked the Congress over a video of its senior leader Digvijaya Singh sharing a hug and the stage with Dr Naik at an event to promote communal harmony. The leader is seen praising the preacher. He tweeted on Friday that the government must act against the religious leader “if there is evidence against him”.

Hindu preacher Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation on Friday claimed that Dr Naik had quoted verses from the Vedas out of context at a public discussion.

“Congress MLA Roshan Baig invited Sri Sri for a public discussion. He was to talk about Hinduism whereas Zakir Naik on Islam. At the event, Zakir Naik quoted verses from the Vedas out of context. His talk was misguiding and inciting people,” the AOL said in a statement quoted by the media.

“Zakir Naik frequently referred to a book written by Sri Sri called ‘Hinduism and Islam’ & distorted Sri Sri’s message in book,” added the AOL statement.

Meanwhile, calling Dr Naik’s speeches “highly objectionable”, Information and Broad­casting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said the home ministry would take appropriate action after studying them. “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,” Mr Naidu told reporters.

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2016