Braving all the odds on the roads during the BNP-led indefinite blockade, thousands of devotees from home and abroad thronged the bank of Turag River in Tongi yesterday as the first phase of the Biswa Ijtema commenced.
Meanwhile, in a tragic road accident, four devotees from Jessore were killed while coming to the Ijtema yesterday morning. The private car carrying them collided head on with a truck at Joypura area in Savar.
Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj, began right after the Fazr prayer with the devotees chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’.
Moulana Mohammad Ehsan from Pakistan delivered Khutbah (religious sermon) in Urdu followed by a Bangla interpretation by Bangladeshi Moulana Mohammad Abdul Matin.
Later Moulana Ahmad Lat from India gave a speech about the norms and values of being a Muslim.
During a visit to the Ijtema ground yesterday morning, a large number of people was still seen to be arriving at the venue while many others were searching for their place to stay.
Abdul Jalil, a devotee from Dinajpur, said: “It was really a lot of trouble to come here from Dinajpur. We found no transport initially due to the blockade. Then we had to break our journey and take up different means of transport.”
“However, now I’m very happy to be here at the holy ground,” he said.
Mohammad Wahab from Chandpur district was standing on the ground’s south side. “When we were on our way to Tongi in a reserved bus, we were really scared thinking of possible violence. I never felt like this. But by the grace of the almighty, we made it here safely,” he said adding that it was very difficult to catch a bus on these days of violence.
Mujibur Rahman, another devotee from Rajshahi, embarked on a journey by train. He said there was no space in the train even to stand. It was full of devotees and other passengers.
“We could not hire a bus or pickup van because of the blockade,” he added.
One of the main aspects of the Ijtema is the Friday Jumma prayer, for which thousands of devotees took position on the Uttara-Tongi highway. Some of them sat on top of nearby buildings while some were on the foot-over bridges.
This caused a huge traffic congestion on the highway from Uttara to Station Road of Tongi.
Along with the devotees, some government officials including Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, State Minister for Home Asadujjaman Khan Kamal, Chief Justice Mojammel Haque, and local lawmaker Jahid Hasan Russel were also present.
Bangladeshi Moulana Umor Ali delivered sermon after Jumma prayer followed by Moulana Mohammad Rashid after Asr prayer and Indian Moulana Saa’d after Maghrib prayer, said Gias Uddin, an organizer of the Ijtema.
He further said around 20 Sura members from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan would deliver sermons at the Ijtema.
Meanwhile, a mobile court conducted a drive to the nearby shops and restaurants against unhygienic foods. 16 cases were filed and nearly Tk45 thousand fined in this connection, said Shariful Islam, an executive magistrate of Gazipur.
Police Super of Gazipur Harun-or-Rashid said at least 5,000 devotees from around 50 countries had already gathered at the Ijtema.
“5-layered security systems, along with a huge number of law enforcers, have been put in place to ensure security of the congregation,” he added.
The second and last phase of Biswa Ijtema will begin on January 16 and will end on January 18 through Akheri Munajat.
Road mishap kills four devotees in Savar
Four devotees were killed in a tragic road accident on Dhaka-Aricha Highway while coming to the Biswa Ijtema in a private car yesterday morning.
The deceased were identified as businessman Haji Nazim Uddin, 35, Haji Mohammad Rois Uddin, 32, Haji Nasir Uddin, 40 and Rezwan, 27. They all hailed from Hushtola area of Bokchar in Jessore town.
Two more persons, Abdur Rahim, 35 and Murad Hossain, 32, of the same area were also injured in the incident.
According to our Savar correspondent, the private car carrying the five devotees and the driver, collided head on with a truck while overtaking a passenger bus at Joypura area.
One passenger of the car died on the spot while two others were declared dead after been taken to a local hospital.
The driver of the car, Rezwan, died while being treated at the hospital. The injured persons were taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for better treatment.
Confirming the incident, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Dhamrai police station Firoz Talukdar said 15 passengers of the bus were also injured.
“We recovered the bodies and sent them to DMCH. We also seized the vehicles involved in the accident and filed a case in this regard,” said the OC.
Nazma Khatun, wife of deceased Haji Najim Uddin, said her husband, along with four of his business partners, set out for the Ijtema early Friday. “He was planning to attend the Jumma prayer. But around 9am, we heard about his death in a road accident.”
Brother of Najim Uddin told our Jessore correspondent that he received the bodies and had already taken them to Jessore.
