'Communal' Zakir Naik believes no religion is better than Islam: BJP

Welcoming the Centre's decision to ban the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) run by Zakir Naik, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday asserted that the controversial Islamic preacher believes no religion is better than Islam.

BJP leader and former Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh said Zakir Naik is communal from the very beginning.

"He believes there is no better religion in the world than Islam. He, who himself is communal, sees everyone to be the same. The government's decision is a welcome stand. It should have taken place earlier," the Baghpat MP told ANI.

Naik's counsel Mobin Solkar said earlier this month that the case filed by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) against his client under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act is illegal, as the Supreme Court had earlier granted a stay in a similar case and hence any fresh complaint on the same grounds would stand void.

Solankar maintained that from 2012 till date, Naik has not given any lecture which can be a cause of action for filing a fresh FIR against him.

He, however, conceded that the investigative agency is entitled to search and visit the premises of the IRF owned by Naik and the organisation would comply with all investigative processes carried out by the NIA.

Earlier, the authorities blocked the websites of IRF for allegedly spreading objectionable contents, speeches and videos.

As per reports, the NIA will also raise the issue of suspension of videos on YouTube and Facebook pages with the U.S. since the servers are located there.

The NIA had earlier on November 19 carried out searches at 10 premises of the banned IRF in Mumbai after registering a case against its founder Naik and others under an anti-terror law.