Colombo: Two of Sri Lanka’s major cable TV operators, have dropped controversial Indian Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s Peace TV from their channel following the country’s worst terror attacks Easter Sunday which killed over 250 people, according to a media report.
India and Bangladesh have already banned Malaysia-based Naik’s Peace TV, which has often been used by ISIS recruiters for indoctrination and brainwashing the youth.
Sri Lanka’s two of the largest cable operators ‘Dialogue’ and ‘SLT’ have stopped airing Zakir Naik’s Peace TV. However, an official announcement on this yet to be made, Colombo Gazette reported.
The move came after the deadly Easter Sunday bombings which killed at 253 people and injured 500 others.
However, the Sri Lankan government has not banned the controversial Peace TV.
‘Peace TV’ was launched by Naik’s Mumbai-based Islamic Research Foundation in 2006. An Urdu version was launched in 2009, followed by a Bangla version in 2011.
The contents in English, Urdu and Bangla are telecast from Dubai.
Naik is wanted by India for allegedly inciting youngsters for terror activities through his hate speeches.
He is being probed under terror and money laundering charges by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He had left India in July, 2016.
Naik has been granted Malaysian permanent resident status.
The NIA had first registered a case against Naik under anti-terror laws in 2016 for allegedly promoting enmity between different religious groups
Bangladesh suspended the channel that featured Naik’s preachings after media reported that militants who attacked a Dhaka cafe in 2016 were his admirers.
PTI
