Mumbai: Islamic preacher Zakir Naik runs the Islamic International School in the Mazagaon area of Mumbai. But a damning report about the institute by Mumbai Police is likely to trigger a fresh controversy.
The institute has been under the government scanner for sometime but the latest report of Mumbai Police has revealed some astonishing details.
The report accuses the school of 'brainwashing' students and “urging parents to keep kids away from 'un-Islamic environment',” the Mumbai Mirror reported.
The report has been forwarded to the chief minister's office and the home ministry.
It is alleged that the syllabus has “enough material” to indicate the school is "brainwashing" students to reject other faiths and convert themselves to Islam.
The state government had ordered a probe against Naik after Bangladesh government accused him of inspiring terrorists involved in Dhaka attack.
The latest police report could lead to serious trouble for Naik, the Mirror quoted Mumbai Police sources as saying.
According to the police probe, the school also has a branch in Chennai which is "conceived, planned, and developed by Dr Zakir Naik" and asks Muslims to stay away from non-Islamic schools.
The 71-page report said that the school's literature is aimed at making the students “insular”.
"Societal influences upon a child should be analysed critically. An un-Islamic environment can result in the corruption of a virtuous Muslim's Islamic understanding, upbringing and values. It is therefore recommended that Muslim parents educate their children in an Islamic school to prevent them from falling prey to the bad influences and immorality prevalent in society," the report quotes the school's literature as saying.
"Some of the school's literature, which is also available on its website, is highly controversial and objectionable, and could produce indoctrinated individuals," the Mirror quoted a senior police officer as saying.
A paragraph on the school's introduction on its website said the school looks after its students' needs even in 'afterlife'.
"The pragmatic insights gained from these meetings and latest research and learnings on effective education strategies help in the continuous improvement and development of IIS, to be contemporary and Islamic... to fulfill the students' educational needs for this duniya and the Aakhirah' (hereafter)," the paragraph reportedly reads.
