People should not blame me now: Dr Zakir Naik on B'desh Eid attack

July 07, 2016 11:33

Dr Zakir Naik, whose sermons reportedly inspired two of the killers in the Dhaka terrorist attack last week, took to Twitter on Thursday after after bombs went off near Bangladesh's biggest Eid gathering in the north of the country on Thursday.

Shortly after the news of the attack broke, Naik tweeted: "People should not blame me now."

Ironically, even as Indian agencies were looking into Naik's speeches, the controversial preacher also tweeted: "My son said to me over the phone that he wants to become Somalian pirate when he grows up. Felt extremely proud!"

Sounding belligerent about reports that action may be initiated against his Dubai-based television channel Peace TV which he owns and airs his brand of Salafi Islam to the world, he said: "If PeaceTV is banned in India, we may change its name & again run the channel."

Naik has been banned from public speaking in the United Kingdom, Canada and Malaysia, but he is immensely popular in India. A medical doctor-turned-TV preacher, Naik has more than 100 million viewers, and has been called the rock star of tele-evangelism and a proponent of modern Islam.

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