Muslims for Secularism and Democracy, a group that has opposed Dr. Zakir Naik's views on comparative religion called him a hypocrite and his logic "warped" before asking Muslims to "expose" him. The group took a press conference at the Marathi Patrakar Sangh an hour after another group took one in his support where in they showed nine clips where Naik was "spreading prejudiced" against other religions if not "contempt and hate".
It also asked section of media to stop the witch hunt against Naik and let the investigating agencies investigate him on terror links, if any. Speakers included journalist Javed Anand, Islamic scholar and Prof. Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Irfan Ali Engineer from Center for Study of Society and Secularism, Noorjehan Saia Niaz of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and Kapil Patil, member of legislative council.
"Naik is no messenger of peace and he is not propagating peace. He is spreading prejudice, if not contempt and hate for other religions," said Javed Anand. Anand questioned Naik's intentions on the issue terrorism.
"When the question of terrorism is staring, should you (Naik) not be thinking about how you are flirting with words. How is a 20-year-old supposed to interpret him? He has not said anything openly against Osama. He is irresponsibly getting youth to crossroads which is very dangerous thing. He is peddling gateway drug to terror," he added.
The excerpts of the videos shown in the press conference show Naik telling a youth that saying "Merry X'Mas" is blashpemy, endorsing view that other religion not be openly preached and propagated, that Taliban were educating Buddhist monks when they blew up Bamiyan Buddha, women not wearing short clothes to avoid harassment, that Lord Shiva could not even identify his son, and ban on music among others.
"He is insulting other religions. Tomorrow he will say not say Mubarak during Diwali and other festivals. Chopping of hands is being banned in Islamic countries and he probably does not know what is happening there. He has still not clearly said that Osama was a terrorist when everyone in the world has said the same. Saying that worship places of other faiths should not be there, he is being nothing but a hypocrite," said Feroze Mithiborewala.
"It pains me to see that some Muslims are supporting him," said Irfan Ali Engineer. "In fact, one of the first verses of Quran have come from music. His understanding of Islam can never be accepted," said Zeenat.
On the prime minister stating that "preachers of hate" being threat to society, Anand said: "I agree with him. But like Naik, there are others like Sadhvi Prachi and a number of ministers in his cabinet who should be brought to book. There is probably a diplomacy at worth with both Naik and Modi receiving highest awards from Saudi government."
