Ijtema ends with prayer for peace
January 25, 2010
Over a million Muslims raised their hands seeking forgiveness and blessings for mankind and the Muslim Ummah as the three-day Biswa Ijtema concluded yesterday with final supplication–Akheri Munajat.
Maulana Jobayerul Hasan of Tablig-e-Jamaat, India led the 22-minute Munajat at the ijtema, the biggest annual Islamic event after the hajj, on the bank of Turag in Tongi.
As well as the devotees from home, thousands of Muslims from more than 70 countries attended the solemn event.
The gathering of devotees of all ages spilled over the adjacent roads stretching from Biswa Road bus stand to Cherag Ali Market in Tongi.
Meanwhile, at least seven devotees were killed and 23 others injured in two separate accidents in Tongi and at Uttara in the capital.
The Munajat started around 12:18pm and ended at 12:40pm. Maulana Jobayerul, in Urdu and Arabic, called upon the Muslims to follow Islam in everyday life and dedicate them to establish Islamic values in the society. The Munajat was relayed to far-flung areas through loudspeakers.
President Zillur Rahman had listened to the sermons for nearly one and a half hours sitting adjacent to the main stage at the congregation before the Munajat started.
The prime minister joined the Munajat from the rooftop of the Civil Aviation Authority headquarters at Tongi, reports BSS. Her cabinet colleagues, political leaders, high civil and military officials, among others, joined the Munajat with the premier.
Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia attended the Munajat from atop Atlas Bangladesh building. Party leaders accompanied her.
Ministers, state ministers, and government officials took part in the Munajat from separate platforms specially erected for them. MPs and leaders of different political parties were also present.
Roads, sidewalks, open spaces, footbridges and rooftops of nearby houses and factory buildings were teeming with people. Many of the devotees participated in the prayer sitting in front of TV sets as some private television channels broadcast of the prayer live.
Pilgrims willing to join the Munajat had to walk several kilometers as traffic movement from Joydevpur to Kuril, on the Mirpur Beribadh Road and in areas adjacent to the ijtema ground came to a halt.
Many devotees told this correspondent that despite starting early in the morning braving the winter cold, they could not reach the main ground of ijtema.
Turnout at the government and private offices, mills and factories in Dhaka, Tongi and Gazipur was low, as a large number of employees and officials left their workplaces to join the Munajat.
“Every year, I come here to attend the Munajat. The hurdles are nothing when it comes to following the path of Allah,” said Mojibur Rahman, a resident of Kakrail.
The three-day congregation began with the delivery of Aam Bayan (principal sermon) after the Fazr prayers on Friday. Throughout the three days, Islamic scholars from different countries delivered sermons on various aspects of Islam. The Tablig-e-Jamaat has been organising the ijtema since 1976.
Tight security was in place. Around 18,000 personnel from different agencies and several hundred plainclothes law enforcers were deployed in the area.
The government arranged special trains, buses and river craft to carry devotees from ijtema ground to their homes.
SEVEN KILLED IN TWO ACCIDENTS
Four devotees including three women were killed and eight others injured last night as a bus carrying them overturned near Uttara embankment in the capital.
The identity of the deceased could not be known immediately.
Uttara police said the bus overturned and skidded off the road at Uttara sector-10 at about 9:30pm as its driver lost control over steering.
Meantime, three women died when a motorboat carrying pilgrims from Biswa Ijtema capsized in Turag River at Tongi in the afternoon.
Of the deceased, two were identified as Shahida Begum of Rupganj in Narayanganj and Zobeda Akter, 60, and the identity of another 55-year-old woman could not be known immediately.
The boat was heading towards Narayanganj with at least 50 passengers on board. Fifteen people were wounded in the accident.
Seven of the injured who swam ashore were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Witnesses said the overloaded boat capsized when it bumped into a pillar of the bridge.
Source: thedailystar.net
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