Zakir Naik skips father’s funeral in Mumbai

Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik’s father Abdul Karim Naik, a physician and educationist, passed away at his home in Mumbai early this morning after suffering a cardiac arrest.He was 87. Born in Ratnagiri in coastal Maharashtra, Abdul Naik, a doctor, served as the president of the Bombay Psychiatric Society, a private organisation of mental health professionals, in 1994-95. He suffered cardiac arrest and was declared dead at 3.30 am on Sunday. The funeral was attended by around 1,500 people, including lawyers, doctors, politicians, journalists and businessmen at the Nariyalwadi Qabrastan, near Reay Road station. Asked about Zakir Naik skipping the funeral, his aide said, “He wasn’t able to attend. It was too short a time. He will soon be here to pay respects to his father.” Zakir Naik’s Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), too, is under the radar of security agencies and will be soon banned under the anti-terror law.