The 56th Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims, started holding from Friday morning with Pakistan’s Maulana Ziaul Haque’s Aam Bayan (sermons) after Fajr prayers.
Ahead of the Jumma prayer, tens of thousands of pious Tabligh members have gathered Ijtema place – the banks of the Turag River in Tongi.
People were seen taking position on the footpaths of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and in nearby open spaces as they could not manage to enter the main venue. Hundreds of loudspeakers across the area were installed.
Maulana Ismail Gudar will give sermons after Jumaah, Maulana Zubair Ahmad and Maulana Ahmad Lat after Asr and Maghrib prayes respectively. Maulana Omar Farooq of Bangladesh will translate their sermons into Bangla.
The largest Jumma prayer of Bangladesh would be held on the Ijtema ground around 1:30pm led by Maulana Zobair.
Preaching will be done by eminent sermon speakers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India. The six Usul of Tabligh will be recited until Sunday’s concluding prayers.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police Commissioner Molla Nazrul Islam said, “More than 10,000 law enforcement officials will be in duty to ensure security of Ijtema ground.”
He said that his agency is monitoring from 14 control rooms.
Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) Alamgir Hasan said the traffic department has been divided into several sections.
Alamgir Miah, the executive engineer of the Directorate of Public Health Engineering, said, “To accommodate 9,000 people at once, 31 restroom (toilet) structures had been constructed. Additionally, plans have been developed for an uninterrupted power supply, access to drinking water, and the Fire Service has been prepared for any eventuality.”
The Ijtema organizing committee's chief, Engineer Mahfuz, reported that a large number of Tabligh Muslims have been arriving to the Ijtema ground in groups and taking up positions on the field since Wednesday.
“Up until the final prayer of the first phase of Ijtema, there will be a steady stream of devotees,” Mahfuz added.
Tangail's Sakhipur upazila resident Hossain Alamgir, who came to attend the Ijtema after two years, said that he had been coming to attend the Ijtema for the nearly seven years. A happy Hossain did not come since the Ijtema was not held due to Covid-19 shutdown.
The pandal of the international guests on the Ijtema ground is already occupied by foreign worshipers from European, Middle Eastern and other countries. The northwest corner of the site has a separate lodging option with modern amenities for visitors who follow the Tabligh.
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