2 more devotees die on 2nd day

Devotees queue up in front of a medical camp, set up on Munnu Textile Mill premises, to have medical care on the second day of second phase of Biswa Ijtema, the second biggest congregation of Muslims after Hajj. Photo: Star

Two more Muslim devotees died of cardiac arrest when the second phase of Biswa Ijtema stepped into second day today.

Today's programme started with the delivery of sermons, prayer for exaltation and welfare of the Muslim Ummah amid recitation from the holy Quran and Hadith.

Maulana Abdul Wahab of Pakistan began the day's sermon after Fazr prayers on the bank of rive Turag, around 20km off the capital.

The deceased were identified as Nur Mohammad, 70, of Sonaimuri upazila in Noakhali and Mujibur Rahman, 55, of Mirpur-2 in the capital.

Mohammad died around 2:30am while Rahman around 3:00am, Ismail Hossain, officer-in-charge of Tongi Police Station, told our Gazipur correspondent.

So far, seven Muslim devotees have died on the Ijtema ground.

The three-day Ijtema, the largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj, started yesterday on the bank of the river Turag in Tongi with the participation of lakhs of devotees from home and abroad to seek divine blessings of Allah.

A dowry-free mass wedding will also be held at the venue of Ijtema today.

The second phase of Ijtema will conclude with Akheri Munajat (final prayers) tomorrow.

The devotees from the 33 districts with around 10,000 foreign devotees have joined the second phase.

The first phase was held from January 24 to 26 where devotees from 32 districts of the country along with around 20,000 foreign devotees of 103 countries took part.

Tablig Jamaat has been organising the Biswa Ijtema, also called the World Muslims' Congregation, every year since 1946.

Around 20,000 uniformed and plainclothes policemen and members of Rab and intelligence agencies are in place on the Ijtema ground to ensure smooth holding of the congregation.