Syed Hamid Saeed Kazmi ( ur, ; born 3 October 1957) is a Pakistani politician who served as the 28th Federal Minister for Religious Affairs of Pakistan from 2008 to 2010 as part of the
Pakistan People's Party
The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...
government. He hails from
Multan
Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab.
Multan is one of the List ...
.
Family
Kazmi was born in a well-to-do religious family. His father, Ahmad Saeed Kazmi, was a prominent
Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
and Islamic scholar. He is one among eleven siblings. Kazmi is married and has two daughters and two sons. His father Syed Ahmad Saeed Kazmi son of Syed Muhammad Mukhtar Ahmad Shah Kazmi belonged to
Amroha
Amroha is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is located north-west of Moradabad, near the Ganga River. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amroha district.
Geography
Amroha is located north-west of Moradabad, near the ...
, India. They migrated to Multan in 1935. The family relates with Imam Musa Kazim through 35 steps, and this is why he is called Kazmi.
Education
He obtained a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
Gold Medal
A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture.
Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
from the
Bahauddin Zakariya University
Bahauddin Zakariya University (BZU) ( ur, ) is a public university with its main campus in Multan, Pakistan. Bahauddin Zakariya University was founded in 1975 as Multan University, and is the 2nd largest university in Punjab. It was renamed i ...
in 1985.
Political career
He has been elected MNA on the ticket of PPPP from NA-192 by defeating Makhdoom Syed Ahmad Alam Anwar of
PML (Q)
The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid e Azam Group) ur, ; ''Pākistān Muslim Līg (Qāf)'', Acronyms: PML(Q), PML-Q, PMLQ, "Q League") is a Conservative nationalist political party in Pakistan. As of the 2018 parliamentary election, it has a re ...
.
Kazmi was sentenced to sixteen years imprisonment on the basis of charges of corruption by a lower court. The lower court has written in its 87 pages of decision that Hamid Kazmi was not found corrupt at any level but as he was the head of the ministry and by him mismanagement was done. But he appealed against it in the
Islamabad High Court
The Islamabad High Court is the senior court of the Islamabad Capital Territory, Pakistan, with appellate jurisdiction over the following district courts:
* Islamabad District Court (East)
* Islamabad District Court (West)
Justice Aamer Far ...
. On 20 March 2017, he was acquitted in the Hajj corruption scandal, along with former ex-DG, Hajj Rao Shakeel, and Joint secretary for Religious Affairs, Aftab Aslam.
Assassination attempt
He is a critic of the
Pakistani Taliban
The Pakistani Taliban (), formally called the Tehreek-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan (Urdu/ ps, , lit=Student Movement of Pakistan, TTP), is an umbrella organization of various Islamist armed militant groups operating along the Afghan–Pakistani bor ...
. On 2 September 2009, while he was the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs, Kazmi survived an assassination attempt by suspected Taliban gunmen. He was shot by motorcycle borne gunmen as he leaving his office. His driver and guard were killed in the attack.