Zakir Naik donation row: BJYM protests at Congress youth wing office
Youth wing of the BJP protested against the Congress over issue of Zakir Naik's donation to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation.
Activists of BJP's youth wing on Monday protested outside the office of Indian Youth Congress here, demanding answer from the latter over controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's NGO donating Rs 50 lakh to an allied entity of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Holding placards and shouting slogans, the members of Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) gathered outside the office of Congress' youth wing at Raisina Road.
The Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), founded by Naik, had donated Rs 50 lakh to Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT), an associate entity of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, in 2011 but the amount was returned to IRF by RGCT in July this year.
The IRF is embroiled in a controversy because of allegations that Naik was inciting youths for terror. BJP has earlier alleged that the donation to RGF, headed by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, by Naik's NGO was a "bribe" to "shelter" his "anti-national" activities.
Congress had accused the government of hatching a "venal conspiracy of muckraking" to "slander, malign and defame" the party over Rs 50 lakh donation.