One of the Dhaka cafe attackers has confessed that he drew inspiration from Dr Zakir Naik, whose television and online sermons draw large audiences across the world. Naik is one of the countless religious babas who sell their wares on TV. That he has a large following speaks of his success. It is not unusual for well-off urban youngsters living in a make-believe virtual world to fall for jihadi or fundamentalist rhetoric. In an Islamic State video Bangla people have shockingly recognised three of their own: an MBA student, a dentist married to a model and a son of a former Chief Election Commissioner. The ISIS arouses curiosity of certain sections. But there is no need to magnify the danger without concrete evidence. Given the Indian Muslim demographic and religious profile, neither the ISIS nor Dr Naik poses any serious threat.A terror attack forces a government to appear to be doing something and TV channels also face similar pressure. Some enterprising anchor dug up a 2012 video clip, showing Congress leader Digvijaya Singh sharing the stage with Naik, provoking a political tug of war. Terror groups could not have done a better media promotion of their cause. Apparently unfamiliar with the word “restraint”, TV channels engaged in one-upmanship in giving free publicity to the Bangladeshi terrorists and the Mumbai-based cleric, constantly flashing their photographs. Overnight the media made Zakir Naik a household name, arousing the curiosity of even those who had not heard of him. Given the heightened threat of terror India is faced with, particularly after the Pathankot and Dinanagar attacks, one thought media would know where to draw a line and intelligence agencies would be keeping a tab on all suspicious organisations and their leaders. Otherwise where was the need for the government to start monitoring Naik’s speeches and sources of funding now? It required a terror attack in a neighbouring country for India to discover that Mumbai was playing host to a “very dangerous” Islamic preacher who inspires terrorists. The government’s laissez-faire policy towards Zakir Naik and his Islamic Research Foundation has come as a surprise.