The spirit of sacrifice unites Bangladesh on Eid-ul-Azha

Muslims in Bangladesh are celebrating the Eid-ul-Azha on Monday, the second most important festival in the Islamic calendar, by offering prayers and sacrificing animals.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 5 Oct 2014, 06:58 PM
Updated : 6 Oct 2014, 05:55 AM

Also Read: Praying on Eid

On this day, Muslims slaughter cattle to commemorate Prophet Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his son at Allah's command.

Much of the meat will be given away to others – the animal is cut into three pieces, with one portion eaten in a celebratory dinner by family, another portion offered to friends, and the remaining portion donated to those less fortunate and unable to afford a cattle.

But residents of more than 100 villages in the country celebrated the festival on Saturday in keeping with Saudi Arabia.

Like previous years, the biggest Eid congregation will be held at Kishoreganj's Sholakia.

In Dhaka, the National Eidgah will host the main congregation at 8am, which will bring together people from all walks of life.

National mosque Baitul Mukarram will host five consecutive Eid congregations every hour starting 7am.

Eid prayers will be followed by sacrificing animals.

The supply of cattle has been abundant in Dhaka and most traders reported brisk sale. But many of them said they could not make the kind of profit they had expected.

Dhaka City Corporation -- both North and South -- have planned to deploy a 13,000-strong workforce that will distribute special polythene bags to keep the city clean after the animals are slaughtered.

The cleaning work, the authorities said, will begin on Eid Day and will continue for 48 hours after that. DCC North will use a special bacterial spray to remove the bad odour.

Meanwhile, the MET office has forecasted sporadic rain across Bangladesh on Monday but much of the day is expected to be sunny.

President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have greeted the people with separate messages on Sunday.

Hamid hoped Eid would bring peace and prosperity and strengthen the unity, solidarity and brotherhood of the Muslims.

In her message, the prime minister called upon the people to build a happy and prosperous Bangladesh free from discrimination by participating in welfare-based activities.

BNP chief Khaleda Zia, too, has greeted the nation.

Prime Minister Hasina will exchange Eid greetings with people from all walks of life at the Ganabhaban on Monday morning.

Khaleda will greet diplomats and important personalities at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center at 11am.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Benazir Ahmed said they arranged special security for the capital.

The national flag was hoisted at important public and private buildings. Roads and important establishments have been decorated ahead of the festival.

Special meals were expected to be served at hospitals, prisons, and shelters for Eid.

Private television channels have been airing special programmes ahead of the Eid while newspapers, too, have published special editions.