Dowry-free marriages, which used to be arranged on the second day of each phase and used to be one of the special attractions of the Biswa Ijtema, were not held this year, due to what the organisers say is the shrinking popularity of the move.
Earlier, the marriages were held after the Asar prayers just beside the main stage of the venue in absence of the bride.
The Akheri Munajat of the first phase of Ijtema, attended by Muslims of 16 districts, would be held at 10:30-11am today, said SM Alam, district administrator of Gazipur.
The second phase of Ijtema, to be attended by devotees from 16 other districts, would be held on January 15-17. Muslims from 32 other districts would be able to join the congregation next year.
Engineer Gias Uddin, a top Tabligh Jamaat leader, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that only the Tabligh supporters and other devotees knew about the practice whereas relatives of the bridegrooms, even their neighbours, are not informed about it.
“For this reason, interest about the marriage among the devotees has reduced. So we have asked the interested people to register their names for dowry-free marriage and will organise it in their localities so that others can learn about the move,” he added.
Meanwhile, sermons for the second day started after Fazr prayers by Maulana Ismail Hossain Godra of India. Others who gave sermons were Maulana Mohammad Jamshed, Maulana Mohammad Yousuf and Hazrat Maulana Khorshed of India. Their sermons were also available in several languages for the participants.
A huge number of devotees gathered at the Ijtema venue yesterday by bus, train and other vehicles, organisers said, adding that the devotees would continue to come until this morning. As the Ijtema from this year would be held in four phases, the organisers said the gathering would not be huge like before.
The Tabligh Jamaat leaders this year did not give permission to broadcast the Akheri Munajat live and also barred taking photographs.
Like every year, a special chamber has been set up beside the main stage where the interested devotees can write their names to be with the Tabligh Jamaat for a certain time. After their names are registered, they would be sent to different areas, as per decision of the top Tabligh leader at Kakrail Mosque.
According to the organisers, near about 6,000 devotees would get engaged with Tabligh this year from the Ijtema venue to invite people to Islam across the country.
On the other hand, two more devotees died during the Ijtema yesterday taking the toll to five. Abul Kalam Azad, 60, of Noakhali and Ala Uddin, 65, of Sylhet died of old-age complications.
The number of patients taking treatment at the medical camps has risen. According to the civil surgeon office sources, nearly 5,000 devotees got treatment from the camps. Most of them had been suffering from old-age problems.
In the meantime, authorities have suspended movement of all kinds of vehicles on the roads around the Ijtema ground from this morning. However, some special BRTC buses and special trains would operate for the smooth movement of the devotees.
Harun-or-Rashid, police superintendent of Gazipur, said around 10,000 devotees from 100 countries had joined the Ijtema. “We have taken all possible security steps so that no harmful situation can occur,” he said.
SM Mahfuzul Haque, deputy inspector general of police of Dhaka range, said that they were on high alert to avert any kind of subversive activities during the Akheri Munajat. “We are allowing the foreign devotees to enter the Ijtema ground after checking related information about them,” he added.
For security reasons, the garment factories in Tongi and Gazipur areas were declared shut for today.
