Overview
- Ibtisam Elahi Zaheer, general secretary of Pakistan’s Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith and a long-time associate of UN-designated militant Hafiz Saeed, arrived on October 25 and began visiting sensitive areas near the India–Bangladesh border.
- He was seen in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj, where video shows him urging followers to embrace sacrifice and declaring that Kashmir would become part of Pakistan.
- Reports say his itinerary includes Rangpur and other frontier districts this week, with a major Salafi/Ahl-e-Hadith conference in Rajshahi on November 6–7 and a planned return to Pakistan on November 8.
- Coverage states that his movements near the frontier have raised alarm in New Delhi over potential destabilisation risks for India’s northeast.
- Bangladesh’s interim government has not issued an official comment as local Ahl-e-Hadith figures host him during his second visit this year.