NIA Approaches Interpol for Red Corner Notice Against Zakir Naik

[Debater Slayer]

The National Investigation Agency has approached the Interpol about Zakir Naik:

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency on Thursday approached Interpol for issuing a red corner notice (RCN)+ against controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is being probed for terror and money laundering charges.

Naik is said to be hiding either in UAE or Saudi Arabia and keeps on moving between Malaysia and Indonesia, according to the intelligence agencies.

The Interpol RCN against Naik would mean that he will be declared an international fugitive and could be arrested by any agency around the world.

Naik is accused of spreading hatred by his provocative speeches, funding terrorists and laundering several crores of money over the years.

Sources said that the Interpol was approached against Naik after 10-month long investigation during which all the charges against him have been substantiated and his NGO - Islamic Research Foundation - and Peace TV, where he used to give sermons, have been banned by the government.

During the probe, NIA had found 37 properties owned by Naik and companies run by him, which are estimated to be worth more than Rs 100 crore.

While issuing a non-bailable warrant against Naik, a special NIA court in Mumbai had recently said that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that Naik is evading arrest and that he will not voluntarily appear before the court or before the agency."

The court had also observed that it found substance in the allegations made by the NIA.

Furthermore:

The agency had informed the court that Naik has been promoting enmity and hatred between different religious groups in India through his speeches and lectures on various platforms and he was inciting Muslim youths and terrorists in India and abroad+ to commit terrorist acts.

Naik had fled from India after some attackers in July 1, 2016 Dhaka attack claimed that they wereinspired by him+ .

While I think that Naik has preached a lot of hateful, ignorant messages, the above charges alone don't sound like enough grounds for arrest, in my opinion. If any given terrorist's claim that he or she was inspired by Naik is enough grounds to pursue legal action against the latter, then it seems to me that it stands to reason that politicians who promote wars, encourage hatred and racism against minorities, and glorify xenophobia also deserve legal prosecution.

Additionally, arresting him on account of his beliefs or claims of inspiration by them by terrorists strikes me as an exercise in prosecuting thoughtcrime, especially when there are arguably clearer examples of people who incite violence, such as White supremacists in the U.S. who are still free. If Zakir Naik is prosecuted on charges like "inspiring terrorists" and "spreading hatred," then people like Marine Le Pen and Donald Trump are just as guilty—if not even more guilty, given their outreach—than Naik is.

Discuss.