1st phase of Muslim congregation ends with prayer for world peace in Bangladesh

The Ijtema venue and its adjoining areas reverberated Sunday afternoon with the word "Amin" repeatedly uttered by millions of devotees raising their hands together in the Akheri Munajat, concluding prayer of the 1st phase of the second largest annual Muslim congregation after holy Hajj.

Millions of devotees from home and abroad prayed to Allah for global peace, prosperity and fraternal harmony in the grand prayer, led by renowned Indian Islamic scholar Mawlana Saad from India, at the congregation called Biswa Ijtema on the banks of the Turag river at Tongi, some 25 km north of capital Dhaka.

They also sought divine blessings, stability and welfare of all mankind.

The first phase of Bishwa Ijtema began Friday after Fazr ( morning) prayers with religious sermons for the devotees, seeking world peace for the Muslim ummah.

Some 5,000 pilgrims from 55 foreign countries reportedly attended the first phase of the congregation.

The second phase of the Bishwa Ijtema, which is being held in two phases since 2011 to avoid mad rush of pilgrims, will begin on the same venue on Jan. 16 and it will conclude with the offering of Akheri Munajat on Jan. 18.

Exact number of devotees on the last day could not be assessed as hundreds of thousands of devotees from the capital and the adjoining areas joined the concluding prayer.

The organizers do not maintain any list of devotees, but they guess the number of devotees would not be less than several millions this year.

A huge number of people braving the severe cold wave took inter- district trains to come to the venue, while many arrived on buses, pickup vans or rented micro-buses defying ongoing non-stop blockade which ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its 20 allies enforced since Jan. 6 morning.

Like previous years, Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Leader of the Opposition Raushan Ershad and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia have joined the concluding prayer that marked the end of the annual event since 1976 in the same venue.

Apart from them, thousands of officials from government and private organizations joined the concluding prayer as the day is undeclared holiday in Bangladesh.

To ensure safety and security of the devotees and maintain the law and order, nearly 12,000 members of different law-enforcing agencies have been deployed in the five-layered security net in and around 60-hectare Ijtema ground, the main venue of the congregation.

Observation towers have been set up at different strategic points to oversee people's movement.

Free medical camps have been opened at the venue to provide treatment to the devotees, who are falling ill. Thousands of extremely old people join the Ijtema every year and many fall sick and even some die.

Due to old age ailments, cold related diseases and other complications, a total of 10 people reportedly died at the Ijtema venue since its beginning Friday. Endi