Dr Zakir Naik did not turn up at the funeral of his father, Dr Abdul Kareem Naik, on Sunday. Kareem, 88, reportedly passed away at a Mumbai hospital early on Sunday but the radical preacher did not attend his funeral as he feared he would be arrested. Naik is currently said to be in Malaysia.
Kareem died because of cardiac arrest at 3.30am on Sunday, the Times of India reported. Kareem, a physician and educationist, was president of the Bombay Psychiatric Society. He was admitted to Prince Aly Khan Hospital at Mazgaon a few days earlier. Kareem's funeral was attended by about 1,500 people from all walks of life, including lawyers, journalists, doctors, businessmen and politicians.
Though no new FIR has been filed against Kareem's son, Zakir Naik, the controversial Islamic preacher does have criminal cases lodged against him. The Centre is reportedly looking at declaring his NGO, Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), an "unlawful organisation" under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The funeral service also saw personnel from the city crime branch and the local police station along with members of the National Investigation Agency being present.
Manzoor Shaikh, administrative manager of the IRF, was present at the funeral and told TOI, "Dr Abdul Kareem Naik's life cannot be described in a few words. He was popular among Hindus and Muslims. He was the President of Bombay Psychiatric Society. He worked hard for educational institutions like Anjuman-e-Islam and Anjuman-e-Khairul Islam. In the last couple of days, he suffered from low blood pressure and organ failure." When asked why Zakir did not make an appearance at his father's funeral, he replied that it was due to Kareem's sudden death that he could not make the necessary plans to come.
