Dhaka, Feb 2 (bdnews24.com) — Tens of thousands of devotees arrived on the first say of the Biswa Ijtema braving dense fogs overnight, as the world's second largest gathering of Muslims began Friday.
"We did not expect so many people to gather on the first day of the congregation," Tongi municipal chairman Ajmatullah Khan told bdnews24.com.
Khan said organisers set up 8,000 makeshift latrines, installed five deep tube-wells that pump 18,500 gallons of water a day, and prepared the main pavilion.
But it seems the majority of participants may have to stand outside the main premises to offer Friday prayers and on the day of the Akheri Munajat, he said.
Khan said he feared that arrangements for drinking water, latrines and overnight accommodations, especially for foreigners, might not be enough.
Several thousand Muslims from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bahrain, UAE, Kuwait and the Philippines have already arrived for this year's congregation, officials said.
Khan acknowledged that there could be a serious crisis of drinking water and public toilets.
"I am worried about the arrangements."
Thousands of devotees stretching from the main road in Uttara to Board Bazar in Tongi were seen trekking along both sides of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, to beat traffic jams that had lingered for hours.
Security personnel could be seen managing traffic that stretched some three to four kilometres from the Tongi bridge.
"People are hurrying to attend prayers and are getting off cars, trucks and buses and rushing on foot toward the Ijtema venue," said Mohammad Awal, a bus driver stuck near the Tongi bridge.
Many travelled for a day. Fog across the country stranded thousands of Tongi-bound devotees for hours at Doulatdia ferry terminal because services had been suspended between 1am and 11am Friday.
Nine gates, accessible from the three main approaches to the site, had been set up. Security personnel checked people with metal detectors at entry points.
"It is not possible to check every single person. We are struggling to make our best effort," said Atahar Ali, a police official standing at gate No. 5.
A security force of more than 10,000 was in place.
Gazipur police chief Md Rezaul Karim told bdnews24.com, "We have deployed the maximum number of our forces to check any violence or untoward incident."
He said roughly 4,500 police personnel in uniform were on duty at various points while another 2,500 plain-clothes men were deployed for intelligence gathering."
RAB's commanding officer at the Ijtema site, lieutenant colonel Md Badrul Ahsan told bdnews24.com that they had deployed around 1,000 of their men to maintain discipline.
Other law enforcers such as the Ansars had been deployed.
Authorities set up six observation towers and several closed-circuit cameras around the Ijtema site to keep their eyes on the gathering.
Officials said 20 medical teams, 12 ambulances and fire brigade teams were on stand-by in case of emergency. A total of 24 mobile courts were in operation to oversee arrangements and transactions, including inspecting standards at food stalls.
Apart from official arrangements, private organisations offered medical assistance, including ambulance services and free medical checkups at various points.
The Department of Public Health and Engineering in collaboration with Unicef arranged portable water tanks to facilitate access to drinking water for participants on the road.
Organisers expect some three million to join prayers on Sunday, the final day of the congregation.
Last year more than 2.5 million people attended the final prayers.
The Biswa Ijtema has been held annually since 1966 on the banks of the Turag.
The gathering shuns politics and focuses on reviving the tenets of Islam and promoting peace and harmony.
Several thousand foreign participants are expected by Sunday according to Tabligh Jamaat, the organisation of Islamic preachers that sponsors the event.
During Juma'a prayers the venue turned into a human sea. Thousands who could not make their ways to the main venue hurried to find space on the main road to offer prayers.
"I have never seen such a huge gathering. The first day of the Ijtema is usually not such an attraction," said Chand Miah, a participant from Kurigram, who has been coming to the gathering every year since 1993.
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