Kazmi Kazmi, an Islamic scholar, served as the 28th Federal Minister for Religious Affairs of Pakistan, holding office from 2008 to 2010. A prominent member of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), Kazmi hails from Multan and is a respected leader within the Sunni community.

During his tenure, Kazmi was a vocal critic of the Taliban and other Pakistani extremist organisations. In September 2009, he was targeted in a shooting incident in Islamabad, which resulted in injuries to him and his security guard.

Kazmi has been accorded police security during his ten-day Bangladesh sojourn. The focus of Kazmi's visit will be the Chhipatali Kamil Madrassa at Hathazari, Chittagong, where he will have extended discussions with host country Islamic scholars on March 30 and 31.

On April 1, he will hold wide-ranging discussions with the Chittagong metropolitan and district Islamic leaders.

The last time a Pakistani Islamic scholar and preacher visited Bangladesh was in October 2025.

After arriving in Dhaka on October 25, 2025, Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e Hadis 'senior scholar' Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, who is a close associate of Jamaat ud Dawa chief Hafeez Sayeed, left for a prolonged tour of Bangladesh's northwestern and northern parts where he spoke to large gatherings at local madrassahs and other Islamic centres.

Also, the General Secretary of the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e Hadis, Zaheer, was received close to the aircraft from which he alighted at Rajshahi's Shah Maqdoom Airport on October 25 evening by one Abdur Rahim bin Abdur Razzak, a member of the Al Jamia As Salifa, an Islamic research foundation linked to the Bangladesh arm of the country's Ahl-e Hadis Aandolan.

Abdullah bin Abdur Razzak is the son of Sheikh Abdur Razzak bin Yusuf, who is Chairman of Al Jamia As Salifa. He escorted the Pakistani visitor to the organisation's campus at Naudapara in Rajshahi city.

This was Zaheer's second visit to Bangladesh since August 8, 2024, when the Mohammad Yunus-led interim regime took charge following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime.

On October 27 morning, Zaheer, accompanied by Sheikh Abdur Razzak bin Yusuf, left Naudapara for Chapainawabganj, where he visited a few areas on the India-Bangladesh border, including Nachole, and held meetings at some local mosques.

Bangladeshi sources said that Zaheer also held meetings with Asadullah al Ghalib, Chairman of the Ahl-e Hadis Andolan Bangladesh.

Between November 29 and 31, Zaheer visited various locations along the India-Bangladesh border in Rangpur, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari - the very areas which a joint team of Indian Military Intelligence and senior Bangladesh Army officers, including General Waker-uz-Zaman, visited (by helicopter) on October 16.

Zaheer was in Joypurhat on November 1 and Nagaon on November 2 before addressing a large Salafi conference at Dangipara in Rajshahi's Paba upazila on November 6 and 7.

The sources said that Zaheer, who returned to Pakistan on November 8, had in July 2024 called on Muslims in 2012 to kill apostates who denounce Islam and had said that Jews and Christians "cannot be our friends".

Four UK-based mosques were closely assessed by the UK's Charity Commission for hosting Zaheer, who, sections of the British media reported, condoned "sexual slavery".

The UK-based charitable organisations which hosted Zaheer were the Umm Ul Qura Foundation, which runs a mosque in Bradford and was endorsed by the Pakistani cleric, Al Hikmah Project, which runs a mosque in Keighley, the Makki Masjid in Manchester and the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith UK, an umbrella group based in Birmingham with over 45 mosques and other organisations that are affiliated with it.

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There were demands for Zaheer to be banned from entering Britain for the sake of public safety.

Instagram posts show that in October 2014, Zaheer met with fugitive Islamic scholar and orator Zakir Abdul Karim Naik, who is the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation and Peace TV.