Zakir Naik banned from entering the UK

‘Coming to the UK is a privilege not a right, and I am not willing to allow those who might not be conducive to the public good to enter the UK.’

The words of Home Secretary Teresa May resonate around the counter-terror and counter-radicalisation blogs this morning as ‘hate preacher’ Zakir Naik is halted in his attempt to enter the UK for a series of speeches.

On June 1st, Student Rights submitted an ‘Open Letter to David Cameron’ alongside a petition which gained 68 signatures.

Since then, the Home Office has been working to explore Naik’s previous speeches, including one now infamous incident where Naik stated of Osama Bin Laden, “If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist, the biggest terrorist, every Muslim should be a terrorist.”

Student Rights spokesman Raheem Kassam has stated, “It’s a promising precedent that this government is alert to the dangers of radicalisation. Speakers such as Naik are touring the UK and we must expose and impede them to stop them spreading hate across the country.”

The video below shows Zakir Naik speaking in late 2006…