Facing probe over his ‘furious’ speeches that are believed to have inspired two of the Bangladeshi cafe attackers, Mumbai based Islamic preacher Zakir Naik sought support from the Muslims across the world against the ‘media trials’ through his Twitter and Facebook account. The preacher, who is banned in Britain and Canada for his hate speeches against other religions, took to Facebook, to garner support. Within an hour, his post on the platform received thousands of likes and shares.
Trouble continued to brew against Naik, when security sources revealed new details on his influence. Security agencies suspect that several members of the Indian Mujahideen, who joined ISIS, were under the inspiration of the provocative speeches by Naik. Naik, however, had released a statement, saying he disagreed that he inspired the act of killing innocent people in Dhaka. It was reported that Zakir Naik’s ‘hate speeches’ inspired two of the five Bangladeshi militants, who hacked to death 22 people at an upscale cafe in Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave last week.
Naik is in trouble then a tweet from the recently encountered Kashmiri militant, supporting Zakir Naik put him in more trouble. The tweet from Burhan Wani stating that “The Time Will Come When Qur’an Recitation will be Banned’. Burhan Bhai (@Gazi_Burhan2) also tagged 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed in his post. This has added additional annoyance to Naik’s probe.
Hizbul Mujahideen’s poster boy Burhan Muzzafar Wani was shot dead in Kashmir by security forces along with two of his accomplices. The Kashmir battle is changing in a lot of respects and the use of the social media has become a trend today among the militants who are clearly copying the ISIS and the al-Qaeda which have been the pioneers of using the social media in terrorist circles. Burhan, was very active on social media and many Kashmiri youth used to follow his posts. He was known for posting videos on social media, which found some appeal in the younger Muslims population of Kashmir. In one of his videos, he appealed youth to join Hizbul Mujahideen and is considered to have recruited at least 30 young boys from South Kashmir. In a video released in June 2016, he assured the Amarnath pilgrims that they won’t be attacked by the militants. In addition, he also threatened to attack Sainik colonies because of his belief that it was an attempt to change the demography of the valley. He also opposed separate colonies for Kashmiri Pandits saying that they can come live on their own land but an “Israel-like” situation won’t be allowed in Kashmir. He threatened that more attacks will take place against “men in uniform” and also warned the police of the state to stay out of their way.
Burhan fled from his home in 2010 and joined separatist militant groups at the age of 15. Hizbul Mujahideen made him a member in 2011 due to his popularity on social media. The Indian Army killed his elder brother Khalid Muzaffar Wani in 2015, when he had gone along with three friends to meet his brother. The army claimed that Khalid was a militant sympathizer who had taken his friends to get them recruited and was killed in an encounter by the security forces. The army arrested the three friends of Khalid. The Jammu & Kashmir police couldn’t confirm or deny whether he and his friends had joined militancy. His father and residents of his home village rejected that he was a militant, claiming that his body didn’t bear any bullet wounds and he was tortured because he was the brother of a militant.
It is very sad to know that how these young guys are falling in the trap of terrorists, hailing from the village of Tral in the South of Kashmir. Wani was one of the first breeds of educated youth to join the Hizbul Mujahideen. No one knows what has motivated him to join Hizbul Mujahideen, a powerful terrorist group in Kashmir.
Burhan’s social media campaign had an outreach among a section of Kashmiri Muslim youth.
After the news of his death spread, protests erupted in some areas of Kashmir Valley. Curfew was imposed in some places in South Kashmir during the night and Internet services in many areas were cut.
Lakhs of people attended Burhan’s funeral, according to some estimates. Militants were also present at his funeral and offered him a 21-gun salute. His body wrapped in the flag of Pakistan and was buried next to his brother Khalid’s grave in Tral. Burhan died but made it difficult for the preacher Zakir Naik, who is already a victim of media trials and under intelligence scanner.
Inputs from agencies
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
