Biswa Ijtema ends today
Lakhs to join Akheri Munajat
slide showDevoteesare heading towards Ijtema ground on the bank of Turag yesterday. The
congregation will conclude today with the final supplication–Akheri
Munajat. Photo: Anisur Rahman
Biswa
Ijtema, the largest congregation of Muslims next to hajj, passed its
second day yesterday with Islamic scholars from different countries
delivering sermons on various aspects of Islam throughout the day.
Several
lakh devotees from home and more than 70 countries have gathered at the
venue of the three-day Ijtema that ends today, organisers said.
Akheri Munajat (concluding prayers) will mark the end of the
congregation held each year on the bank of the Turag river in Tongi.
Moulana Jobayerul Hasan of India is scheduled to lead the Munajat that begins in between 12:00 noon and 12:30 pm.
Meanwhile, five devotees died from Friday midnight till yesterday noon, said Tongi police.
They
were identified as Haji Makbul, 65, and M Shamsuddin, 60, of
Mymensingh, M Raziuddin Akanda, 62, of Barisal, M Sahar Ali Mollah, 70,
of Rajshahi and Nurul Islam, 65, of Cox’s Bazar.
The
Tablig-e-Jamaat has been organising the Ijtema since 1976. It mainly
concentrates on prayers and meditation seeking blessing from Allah.
President
Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Leader of the Opposition
Khaleda Zia, ministers and political leaders are expected to join the
Akheri Munajat. Separate platforms have been built for them.
Hasina
might take part in the prayers from atop Bata Shoe Company building at
Tongi and Khaleda from atop Atlas Bangladesh Ltd building.
Special security measures have been taken for them.
Besides
devotees at the Ijtema venue, scores of thousands more will join the
prayers from rooftops, open fields and roads around it virtually
turning a vast area into a human sea.
Meanwhile, a dowry-free
mass wedding programme was held yesterday at the Ijtema venue as in the
previous years. A total of 108 couples got married there in presence of
their guardians and relatives.
Later, guardians of the couples distributed date among those present at the programme.
Over
20,000 foreign devotees from over 70 countries taking part in the
congregation are staying in a camp set up for them on the northern end
of the Ijtema ground, said organisers.
A rush of devotees was seen at free medical camps in the Ijtema area yesterday.
The
Ijtema is being held under tight security. Around 18,000 security
personnel from different agencies and several hundred plainclothes law
enforcers have been deployed in the area.
Law enforcers rounded
up 37 pickpockets from Friday morning to yesterday noon. They were also
patrolling the Turag banks so that devotees do not use the polluted
river water.
