And Now, Markandey Katju Challenges Zakir Naik to a Debate

This comes after Katju went on a social media tirade against Naik on Twitter, Facebook and his blog.

The past few days have witnessed Zakir Naik, an Indian Islamic preacher, become somewhat of a sensation in the media.

And now it’s former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju who has jumped into the debate surrounding Naik, his provocative views and the news that he reportedly “inspired” one of the gunmen who attacked a Dhaka bakery on 1 July.

Katju has challenged Naik to a “one-on-one televised debate”, in an email he sent to the controversial cleric.

My email to Zakir Naik challenging him for a one-to-one televised debate in Delhi. Let him reply, if he has the guts pic.twitter.com/Wxruj0SB8g

— Markandey Katju (@mkatju) July 9, 2016

This comes after Katju went on a social media rant against Naik, posting his views about him on Twitter, Facebook and on his blog.

In Katju’s eyes, Naik is not only an “idiot”, but also a propagator of religious fundamentalism that “breeds terrorism.”

Zakir Naik is an unscientific idiot posing to be a scholar, but the tragedy is that millions of fools among the Muslims believe that

— Markandey Katju (@mkatju) July 9, 2016

Y doesnt Zakir Naik quote Urdu poetry in his speeches ? Is it because Urdu poetry has Sufi touch, which propagates humanitarianism & rejects

— Markandey Katju (@mkatju) July 9, 2016

Katju’s anger against Naik also found space for dissemination on news channels including Times Now and CNN IBN.

Zakir Naik came under fire for “promoting violence” after one of the Dhaka attackers spoke admiringly of him on Facebook.

The fiasco has prompted intelligence agencies to launch a probe into his speeches, has the Indian government worried, and also has the likes of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Sri Sri Ravishankar worried after videos of them sharing the stage with Naik surfaced.