Bishwa Ijtema begins today

40 lakh devotees expected
The three-day Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of the Muslims after hajj, begins today (Friday) on the bank of the River Turag at Tongi in Gazipur district, some 22 kilometres away from the capital Dhaka, amid tight security, reports The Independent.
As many as forty lakh devotees from home and abroad are expected to attend the BishwaIjtema that will end with Akheri Munajat on Sunday, organisers said.
Devotees from different places of the country have started arriving at the Ijtema venue. Apart from local devotees, some 2,500 foreign devotees from 99 countries, including New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Zambia, China, India, Saudi Arabia, the USA, the UK, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, Chad, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, France, Yemen, Ukraine, Egypt, Belgium, Senegal, Morocco, Ethiopia, Qatar, Malay, Nepal, Lebanon, Kenya, Sweden, Turkey, Cameroon, Tunisia, Somalia, Mozambique, Sudan, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, South Africa, are expected to attend the 45th Ijtema, organisers told this reporter. Around 1,500 devotees have already arrived at the Ijtema venue.
A large contingent of law enforcers comprising police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) armed police, Ansars and traffic police along with plainclothesmen have kept a vigil in and around the Ijtema ground to maintain law and order.
Gazipur district police super Mahfuzul Haq Nuruzzaman told The Independent that some 18,000 members of different law enforcement agencies and a large number of plainclothes police have been deployed in and around the venue as part of multi-tier security measures.
“We hope that our forces will be able to maintain law and order during the Ijtema,” he added.
RAB director general Hasan Mahmud told this correspondent that 18 control rooms have been set up and 60 CCTVs installed on the venue to monitor the Ijtema site.
“Around 1,000 RAB men divided into five groups have started patrolling the Ijtema venue round the clock to ensure security. Apart from these, helicopters, speedboats and pickup vans will continue patrolling in and around the area,” he said.
Under the supervision of Tongi pourasabha, local administration and Ijtema authorities are working round the clock to oversee the overall situation and fend off any untoward incident.
State minister for health Dr Captain (retd) Mujibur Rahman Fakir and state minister for LGRD and cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanok visited the Ijetema ground and 50-bed Tongi government hospital yesterday afternoon. 
According to organisers, international Islamic scholars will deliver religious sermons during the three-day Ijtema.
The sermons will be translated simultaneously into Arabic, Bangla, English, Hindi, Urdu and other languages for the convenience of the devotees. Sermons will be delivered after Fajr, Johr, Asr, Maghrib and Esha prayers every day.
The first Ijtema was held at Kakrail Mosque in the capital in 1946 while the second one in Chittagong in 1948 and the third at Pagar in Tongi in 1966. Since then, the BishwaIjtema is being held on the eastern bank of the River Turag as space was not sufficient at Pagar.
To facilitate the journey of the devotees, Bangladesh Railway arranged 22 special trains, which will run from Friday to Sunday.
Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) has also arranged special bus services to help facilitate smooth and hassle-free travel for the devotees.
Fifty BRTC buses have started plying to and from Gazipur and Mirpur, Sayedabad, Gulistan, Gabtoli, Kamalapur, Aricha in Manikganj, Paturia in Munshiganj, Narsingdi, Bhairab, Mymensingh, and Joydevpur on Wednesday and will continue to run till Tuesday.
The police headquarters has issued a circular banning plying of all modes of vehicles, other than ambulances, fire services vehicles and those carrying air passengers and crewmen, on Dhaur Bridge-Progoti Sarani via Abdullahpur and Tongi Bridge-Gazipur intersection routes for 24 hours starting from 6 pm on Saturday.