Maulana Saad returns to India

Indian Tabligh-Jamaat scholar Maulana Saad Kandhalvi has finally returned to his country today.

He left Dhaka by a flight of Indian Jet Airways around 10:00am, sources at the immigration of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport said.

In the face of stern opposition from a faction of Tabligh Jamaat, Maulana Saad could not attend this year's Biswa Ijtema that began on the bank of Turag river, on the outskirts of Dhaka, yesterday.

Saad arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday to attend the Biswa Ijtema amid street protests in front of the airport.

As the protesters, mostly students and teachers of Qawmi madrasas, blocked the entrance to the VIP terminal to prevent him from coming out of the airport, law enforcers escorted him through another exit and took him to Kakrail mosque.

The protesters chanted slogans against him for what they claimed were his “controversial comments about the Koran and Sunnah” to audiences in India.

The first phase of the congregation ends tomorrow while the second phase of Ijtema will be held from January 19 to 21.