India Extends Ban on Zakir Naik’s Foundation for Five Years

The Union government has extended for five years its ban on the Islamic Research Foundation, the organisation founded by preacher Zakir Naik, with the measure taking effect immediately under a Ministry of Home Affairs notification. The existing ban was due to expire November 14, 2026.

The ministry said the foundation and its members had engaged in activities prejudicial to India’s security and capable of disturbing peace and communal harmony. It also alleged that Naik’s speeches were objectionable and subversive and could inspire young people in India and abroad to commit terrorist acts. Those statements are the government’s stated grounds for the extension, not independently established findings in the reports.

The notification described the foundation as an unlawful association under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The Unlawful Activities Prevention Tribunal had upheld the earlier unlawful-association decision, according to reports on the government’s notification and previous proceedings. The latest extension keeps the ban in force for five years from publication in the Official Gazette, subject to any future orders under Section 4 of the Act.