The first phase of the three-day Bishwa Ijtema will end on the banks of the Turag in Tongi on Sunday through the Akheri Munajat or concluding prayers, with over 2.5 million devotees expected to take part.
Maulana Zubair Hassan, the Bangladeshi leader of Tabligh Jamaat, will conduct the final prayers at around 11am.
The organizers have prohibited the live telecast and broadcast of the Akheri Munajat.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) has made arrangements to operate 21 special trains from Dhaka to different areas of the country with a view to facilitating the movement of devotees on the concluding day of the congregation.
Dhaka TribuneGazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) has issued some directives regarding traffic movement to reduce the sufferings of the Ijtema devotees.
Movements of vehicles on some roads in Gazipur will remain suspended for around six hours today.
GMP Commissioner Mollah Nazrul Islam said this at a press briefing at the police control room set up at the Ijtema venue. He added that traffic movements have been rearranged as devotees from remote areas of the country will join the Akheri Munajat. As part of the rationalized traffic system, the movement of vehicles has remained suspended from 12 midnight on Saturday till the Akheri Munajat from Tongi to Bhogra Bypass on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, Khamarpara road, Abdullahpur to Bypile on Ashulia road, he said.
Dhaka TribuneThe GMP commissioner requested people to use the bypass road to avoid traffic gridlocks.
Mohammad Ilyas Sharif, deputy inspector general (DIG) of Tourist Police under GMP on Saturday said that the safety of the foreign devotees attending Bishwa Ijtema is a priority.
“We have set up a control room and a hotline for emergencies,” the official added.
The DIG said this year the authorities have received information regarding 5,286 foreign devotees from 66 countries attending the Bishwa Ijtema.
Meanwhile, four more devotees died due to old age complications at the Ijtema venue on Saturday.
Dhaka TribuneSo far, seven devotees have died at the Ijtema venue during the first phase of the global congregation, said Jisanul Haque, additional deputy commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police.
The three-day congregation began on the banks of the Turag River after fajr prayers on Friday, with sermons delivered by noted Islamic scholar Maulana Ziaul Haque of Pakistan.
Several lakhs of Muslim devotees, both from home and abroad, are converging at the venue and attending the prayers - reciting the names of Allah and listening to the sermons.
The second phase of the Ijtema will begin at the same venue on Friday.
