Devotees join Ijtema defying blockade:Daily Star

Muslims take up nearly every available space on Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway, including the tops of vehicles, at Tongi, Gazipur while offering Jumma prayers yesterday, the beginning of Biswa Ijtema's second phase. Photo: Firoz Ahmed The second phase of Biswa Ijtema, the largest Muslim congregation after the hajj, began on the bank of Turag river at Tongi yesterday amid the ongoing BNP-led 20-party all
iance blockade. The three-day second phase of the Ijtema began after the Fazr prayers with religious sermons delivered by Maulana Ismail Hossain of India. Despite the opposition programme, the Ijtema venue and its adjacent areas literally turned into a human sea by the time of Juma prayers led by Qwari Zobayer Hossain, imam of Kakrail mosque. During the prayers, thousands of Muslims were seen on the streets blocking vehicular movement and roofs of different houses and markets in the area. Millions of devotees, including foreigners, had started to throng the venue in Gazipur since Wednesday night. A huge number of people took inter-district trains to come to the Ijtema ground, while many arrived on buses, pickup-vans or rented microbuses ignoring blockade violence. “The devotees faced a great trouble because of the blockade. But, it is their love for Allah that has brought them here,” Fazlul Haque of Netrokona told The Daily Star. Another devotee, Mahbub Hasan of Jamalpur, said the political parties should ensure that people practice their religions peacefully. Advertisement Devotees from 32 districts are participating in this phase of the Ijtema which will end through Akheri Munajat on Sunday. The first phase started on January 9 and ended on January 11. Strict security measures have been put in place to avoid any untoward incident. Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation and Bangladesh Railway have arranged special transport services for the Ijtema participants. Meanwhile, four people have died of cardiac arrest and other health related problems on the Ijtema ground since Wednesday.    They are Billal Hossain, 30, of Patuakhali, Abdur Rahman, 65 of Bogra, and Abdul Quddus, 60, of Laxmipur. A dead man was yet to be identified. Tablig Jamaat has been organising the congregation every year since 1946. The Ijtema is being held in two phases since 2011.