New Delhi

Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday hit out at the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik for appealing to Indian Muslims to reject the Waqf Amendment Bill and also warned him against attempts to ‘mislead and misguide’ them from outside the country.

The scathing denouncement by the Union Minister of Minority Affairs came on the back of a provocative social media post by Zakir Naik, where he appealed to Muslims to ‘Save Indian Waqf properties, reject the Waqf Amendment Bill.’

Zakir Naik in his social media post said, “This is an urgent call to the Muslims in India to stop this evil which breaches the sacred status of Waqf and has evil repercussions on the future of Islamic institutions.”

He also shared a link to a QR code scan and encouraged the Muslim community to support it en masse and register their objections with the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

“At least 5 million Muslims of India should send their rejection of the Waqf Amendment Bill. We will be held accountable if we do not prevent the Waqf properties from being taken away from the Ummah,” he added.

Kiren Rijiju took strong exception to this ‘intervention’ and attempts to meddle in Indian affairs by foreign forces and warned the Islamic preacher against peddling false propaganda.

“Please do not mislead the innocent Muslims from outside our country. India is a democratic country and people have the right to their own opinion,” Rijiju wrote. while sharing Zakir’s post.

“False propaganda will lead to wrong narratives,” he added.

Rijiju reacted to some video clips featuring Indian Muslims preaching and the one featuring Zakir Naik asking Muslims to stand against the Waqf Bill. In a post on X Rijiju said:

Please do not mislead the innocent Muslims from outside our country. India is a democratic country and people have the right to their own opinion. False propaganda will lead to wrong narratives. https://t.co/3W3YwtyJjI pic.twitter.com/LwV9Jh1YTg

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) September 10, 2024

Notably, the Waqf Amendment Bill, aimed at bringing reforms in the management of Waqf properties is currently being discussed and deliberated upon by the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

The proposed changes in the Waqf Act have created a political divide, though the Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman Jagdambika Pal has categorically stated that the panel is brainstorming ideas and suggestions to bring a Bill that benefits the poor, women, children, and the minority community as a whole.

 The Mumbai-born Zakin Naik is an Islamic preacher who is a fugitive of Indian law and has been living in Malaysia was he was given asylum.

Naik is currently a fugitive in India, where, in 2016, he was charged with money laundering while he was abroad in Malaysia; Naik did not return to India and became a permanent resident of Malaysia.

The National Investigation Agency issued an Interpol red notice for his arrest, as Malaysia refused to extradite him.

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Naik's Peace TV is banned in India, Bangladesh, Canada, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom under hate speech laws.