Two Television Stations based in Dubai and owned by Zakir Naik (controversial preacher) have been fined GBP 300,000 in United Kingdom (UK) for breaking the law by broadcasting hate speech as well as offensive content.
The TV network broadcasts 24-hours a day. The two stations broadcast Islamic content in both Urdu and English in Britain. The TV programs are also available on Cable TV and satellite.
Ofcom, the UK media regulator, fined Peace TV Urdu a total of GBP 200,000 and the Peace TV which broadcast in English GBP 100,000 for breaching broadcasting rules.
The content which was broadcast is said to have “contained hate speech and highly offensive content, which in one instance was likely to incite crime,” Ofcom noted.
Further, the regulator concluded that “the content represented serious failures of compliance with our broadcasting rules, which warranted fines.”
These two fines were levied on the previous owners of the broadcasting licenses that is Lord Production and Club TV.
Zakir Naik was granted permanent residence in Malaysia. He is wanted in India for money laundering charges. India has been requesting for Zakir’s extradition but Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the Prime Minister, refused expressing doubts whether Zakir will receive a fair trial.
Zakir Naik is also accused by India of “inflammatory speeches and lectures” which is said to have incited the Muslim youths in India to engage in terrorism activities. Naik denied these accusations by India. Naik has a huge business empire including Peace TV has operations in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.
Zakir Naik was born in Mumbai India and studied medicine and surgery (MBBS) at the University of Mumbai.
