 "No question of leaking out information on Zakir Naik's NGO: Government")
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said there is no question of the government leaking out information or documents as far as the renewing of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's NGO is concerned.
"We knew the issue of Zakir Naik's Islamic Research Foundation donating 50 lakhs crores to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation or related body more than a month before, but we do not want to play politics. So, we have asked for more information. In the meantime, some individual journalists have filed RTI to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and got the information. There's no question of government leaking out the documents or information," Rijiju told the media here.
Condemning Naik, Rijiju said it was unfortunate that rather than thinking about what the Congress has done, the Islamic preacher was making unnecessary accusations.
"We abhor equating religion with terrorism. Anybody who propagates terrorism will not bear anything with regards to identity of particular religion. National security is most important," he added.
Naik has written an open letter to the government, seeking clarification on the allegations of forced conversions.
In a series of questions posed to the government, he asked why a probe continued against him even after "not a single conclusive evidence of wrong doing" was reported by any agency.
"Why would the government renew Islamic Research Foundation's FCRA registration and then cancel it? Is there design to leaking confidential information of the government, solicitor general and the MHA? Is there a design to leaking selective government documents to the media?" the letter read.