Why Zakir Naik would love the Arnab Goswamis of these times

Zakir Naik must be thanking Arnab Goswami and secretly, even loving him. Naik can now comfortably position himself as a victim of personal harassment and someone whose religious sentiments have been hurt by the aggressive TV anchor who has positioned himself as the antagonist of anything that can remotely be called anti-national. But here, Arnab probably missed the point that Naik isn’t someone who is to be taken on by high decibel slugfest, but through a battle of ideology and logic.

The medical practioner-turned-Islamic preacher, who has made a career with his sheer ability to manipulate people by propagating Islam’s supremacy, is someone who thrives on his opponents’ weakness. Countering him with provable facts was the best strategy against the self-styled televangelist. But, that’s not what Arnab is used to in his television career. His prime weapons are his  ability to maintain high decibels for one full hour and his habit of interrupting, or if necessary, silencing his opponent, as and when he pleases.

While this strategy may give the viewers adrenalin rush on most occasions, but Arnab’s slugfest and his strategy of labelling people as terrorists has failed in making an impact on Naik.

Instead, it has given more ammo to the preacher to strengthen his defence. Till the time Naik entered Arnab’s torture room, the radical preacher was seen as a villain, who allegedly inspired youths to wield weapons and kill innocent lives, by almost everyone (or those who thought otherwise didn’t dare to speak, fearing public anger).

But, the moment Naik underwent the Arnab trial, the preacher won some sympathizers who till the time, have been neutral onlookers. The controversial televangelist tasted blood at that very moment. He then used this as an opportunity to consolidate his position as a ‘victim’ in the battle of faiths and retorted with the same cards that have been used against him till then — putting allegations of ‘hurting religious sentiments’ and ‘causing religious disharmony.

Had Arnab chosen to listen to the preacher and defeat him with counter arguments, or if he had attempted to expose Naik’s illogical ideas and flawed arguments on comparative religion, the story would have been different. But, the media trial he unleashed on Naik meant that Naik got an immediate dose of legitimacy and a reason (constant media trial) not to return to the country and escape the law.

But, one can’t blame Arnab alone. He is a product of a fiercely competitive commercial television space. The television culture Arnab has designed and nurtured (and others have followed), focuses on everything other than the true essence of discussion. One needs to train their ears and eyes hard to identify anything other than Arnab’s voice. A baffled audience, like the enchanted listeners of Zakir Naik, tries hard to distinguish between the words and lip movements of panelists trapped in the many cellars of the television screen, resembling the undead waiting for salvation.

In that ‘hour’, only those in full agreement with the master stand a tiny chance to make use of their vocal chords, while the rest are temporarily reduced to a comatose state.

Both Arnab and Naik thus share certain similar traits. Both have reckoned their war zones on the television screens, both will tag anyone who wouldn’t agree with their thought process as enemies of worst kind. While Arnab can tag the dissenters as ‘antinationals’, Naik prefers to call them ‘non-believers or those deviated from the path of ‘righteousness’. Both are believers of the idea of self-supremacy — one in the name of his religion and the other in the name of that ‘hour’ but in the process, both become the sides of the same coin or a Raman-Raghav.

The end-result of Arnab’s emotional, aggressive advances on Naik — before a strong case is made — is that it has significantly aided the latter to play the victim. This has formed the basis of Naik’s 18-page legal notice to Arnab and Times Now channel. All this has happened when the investigations are still on in the Zakir Naik case and sleuths are yet to finalize charge sheet against the preacher.

True, that not just Arnab but almost all media houses, including this website, have questioned Naik’s speeches and inspected his alleged links with Islamic state terrorists. But media scrutiny and labeling someone as a terrorist, even before the crime is established, are two different things.

In his defamation notice, Naik’s lawyer has blamed Times Now with charges somewhat similar to the ones being currently faced by the preacher — “promoting disharmony and feelings of hatred, enmity and ill-will between different religious groups and thereby, destroying the secular fabric of our country.”

Also, many supporters of Naik, including Asaduddin Owaisi ‘s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has criticized ‘the ‘media trial’ before a case is made, in order to support Naik. “By hounding Zakir Naik, the media, particularly some national television channels have already pronounced their judgment even when a formal case is yet to be registered against him,” said AIMIM’s Syed Imtiaz Jaleel in a Business Standard report.

One cannot rule out the possibility of Naik’s speeches influencing young minds that may result in them taking the path of terrorism — which, in itself is a serious charge. But, the Arnabs of the television world would be giving him an easy escape route by pronouncing the verdict and going for below-the-belt attacks before the investigation is done. Naik will surely love Arnab for already according him the status of a victim and a good reason for not returning to the country to face the law of the land.