Zakir Naik, the radical Islamic preacher currently on the run from the Indian law enforcement authorities, had earlier joined hands with those who instigated violence in Leicester in England’s Midlands area.
In July last year, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported that Naik was seen alongside other Islamic preachers in a grand collage, fundraising for the construction of a grand mosque and Dawah (proselytism) centre in Oslo in Norway.
The Indian fugitive was spotted alongside UK-based Islamists, Ali Dawah and Mohammed Hijab, who reportedly instigated the recent spate of violence in Leicester. They were seen exhorting Muslims to contribute to the establishment of the Islamic centre by promising them a ‘house’ in Jannah (paradise).
According to MEMRI, the fundraising campaign is led by an Oslo-based organisation named “Islam Net”, headed by one Fahad Qureshi.
In July 2020, the Indian fugitive was seen campaigning for the construction of the Islamic centre. “Islam.Net is a Norwegian Dawah organization that requires your help and support to establish a masjid and a Dawah centre in Norway to spread the message of Islam,” Zakir Naik was heard as saying.
He further claimed, “Your small act of charity will yield immeasurable reward for you in life to come.”
Zakir Naik has been avoiding Indian authorities ever since his name started cropping up in terror-related cases. In 2016, terrorists involved in the Dhaka blast case admitted that they were influenced by the preacher’s speeches.
In 2019, Zakir was banned from giving speeches in Malaysia after he made racist comments against Hindus and Chinese Malaysians. He was interrogated for hours in connection to the same.
Zakir Naik is wanted in India in cases involving money laundering. The government of India had taken his channel, Peace TV, off the air for peddling hate propaganda.
Leicester violence: Mohammed Hijab incited Muslims to attack Hindus, Ali Dawah peddled RSS conspiracy theory
On September 19 this year, Islamist ‘scholar’, Mohammed Hijab, was seen mocking Hinduism and inciting Muslims to attack the Hindus. In a video that surfaced on social media, he was seen interacting with mask-clad Muslim men and encouraging them to teach the local Hindu population ‘a lesson’.
“When I was on social media, I saw these people (Hindus) getting brave. How come today it is like pin-drop silence?” the British Egyptian ‘scholar’ was heard as saying. He claimed that no Hindus were in sight after realising that Muslim mobs were coming at them in hordes.
“Cause they (Hindus) fear us when they are near us”, responded an Islamist from the crowd. Pumped by the support of the like-minded people in the crowd, Hijab said, “Deep down, they know we got the truth. If you want respect, then, learn to respect.”
Muslim fundamentalist Mohammed Hijab who previously had led violence against Jews in London, is now in #Leicester with a mob of masked men and planning similar assault on local Hindu community.
— World Hindu Council (@WldHinduCouncil) September 20, 2022
We demand arrest of Mohammed Hijab immediately.@leicspolice pic.twitter.com/Nl8kmupY5b
“If they (Hindus) believe in reincarnation, what a humiliation of them to be reincarnated into some pathetic, weak, cowardly people like that,” the Islamist went on an anti-Hindu tirade.
“Hindutva (Hindus), you are trying to act like gangsters…Don’t ever come out like that again (referring to the protests by Hindus in Leicester). Do you understand? Are they going to come out again?” he continued his threats.
Amidst the war cry of Allah hu Akbar, Mohammed Hijab cautioned that he and his supporters would be there if Hindus ‘dared’ to protest against the violence, committed by his co-religionists.
In an Instagram post, Hijab was seen leading a frenzied mob of Islamists, with their faces covered in masks. “Muslim patrol in Leicester,” he wrote in his post.
On September 23, Islamist scholar Ali Dawah tried to mainstream the conspiracy theory that RSS workers came in droves to stoke communal tensions in the area.
This was despite the fact that the owner of the tour company, Angel Tours, denied all the allegations, and said that his buses did not go to Leicester for the past 2 months.
He clarified that the buses of his company always stop in front of the temple as it is a major landmark and people are well-acquainted with the place. The owner, Yatin Bhimani, said that his buses are parked there only for convenience, and his coach company has no link with the temple.
Based on the fake news that RSS workers were bussed to Leicester with the help of a Hindu temple, Islamists called for a mass mobilisation outside the Shree Sanatan Hindu Mandir in London from 12 pm onwards on September 25.
The disinformation peddled by Islamists was legitimised by leftist news media outlets. Opindia has been the frontrunner in debunking disinformation about the Leicester violence.
