A senior Pakistani cleric and close associate of Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafeez Sayeed has undertaken a sudden visit to Bangladesh, triggering concern among India’s intelligence and security agencies.
Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, who serves as the General Secretary of Pakistan’s Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e Hadis, arrived in Dhaka on October 25 before travelling to Rajshahi’s Shah Maqdoom Airport that evening. He was reportedly received near the aircraft by Abdur Rahim bin Abdur Razzak, a member of Al Jamia As Salifa, an Islamic research foundation linked to Bangladesh’s Ahl-e Hadis Andolan.
Abdur Rahim’s father, Sheikh Abdur Razzak bin Yusuf, is the Chairman of Al Jamia As Salifa and escorted Zaheer to the organisation’s campus at Naudapara in Rajshahi city, according to security sources.
This is Zaheer’s second visit to Bangladesh since August 8, 2024, when the Mohammad Yunus-led interim regime took charge following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.
On Monday morning (October 27), Zaheer, accompanied by Sheikh Abdur Razzak, departed Naudapara for Chapainawabganj district, where he is scheduled to visit several India-Bangladesh border areas, including Nachole, and hold meetings at local mosques. He is also expected to meet Asadullah al Ghalib, Chairman of the Ahl-e Hadis Andolan Bangladesh.
According to intelligence sources, between October 29 and 31, Zaheer will tour Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, and Nilphamari—the same areas visited earlier this month by a joint Indian Military Intelligence and Bangladesh Army team, led by General Waker-uz-Zaman, on October 16.
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His itinerary further includes visits to Joypurhat on November 1 and Nagaon on November 2, culminating in a large Salafi conference at Dangipara in Rajshahi’s Paba upazila on November 6 and 7, before returning to Pakistan on November 8.
Zaheer’s visit has sparked unease due to his controversial past. In 2012, he reportedly called on Muslims to kill apostates and declared that Jews and Christians “cannot be our friends.” Several UK-based mosques were previously investigated by the UK Charity Commission for hosting him.
The institutions under scrutiny included the Umm Ul Qura Foundation in Bradford, Al Hikmah Project in Keighley, Makki Masjid in Manchester, and the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith UK—an umbrella organisation with over 45 affiliated mosques.
Zaheer’s latest movements along the India-Bangladesh border are being closely monitored by security agencies amid concerns about the potential political and religious implications of his visit.
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