In a one of its kind move, all the 16 joint secretaries working in the Home Ministry, met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday to express concern against the suspension of senior IAS officer G.K Dwivedi for the online renewal of Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) licence of Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s NGO. Sources said Mr Dwivedi also separately met the home minister to plead his case.
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Naik had been in the eye of a storm after IS-inspired suicide bombers in Bangladesh claimed that they were influenced by his speeches.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh was displeased after the mandatory FCRA licence of NGO IRF was renewed by the Foreigners cell of the Home ministry.
Home Ministry had inspected IRF accounts in 2014-15 which had revealed several anomalies including diverting of about Rs. 10 crore foreign funds into fixed deposit and not reflecting donations worth Rs. 1 crore.
Naik’s IRF was sent an inspection notice on August 8 and the automatic renewal of licence was done on August 19.
The action initiated against Dwivedi when he was not directly responsible for renewal of the FCRA licence, they said, was “unfair” and had a “demoralising” effect on other joint secretaries in the ministry.
Naik in a lecture, aired on Peace TV, an global Islamic channel, had reportedly “urged all Muslims to be terrorists”.
Last week, a few officials met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and registered their protest against the suspension of Dwivedi.
He oversaw the Modi government’s another pet project of offering long term visa and citizenship to Hindu, Sikh and other minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who have taken refuge in India after facing religious persecution in their home counties.
The controversial Islamic orator is also banned in Malaysia, Britain and Canada.
This is a first step towards canceling permission for Dr Naik’s organisation to receive foreign funds.
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“I don’t know the details of the case but the suspension is not called for”.
