Home minister: Foolproof security for Ijtema

The government has planned stringent security measures ahead of the Bishwa Ijtema, scheduled to begin on January 10 on the bank of the river Turag.

The government has chalked out foolproof security measures in and around the Ijtema ground,” Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told journalists on Wednesday, reports BSS.

 “We have taken all out security measures for devotees including foreign arriving at the Ijtema ground, as the first phase of Bishwa Ijtema is scheduled to begin from January 10,” he said. 

He said various law enforcement agencies including police, RAB, BGB and Ansar will be deployed at the Ijtema ground and at the entry points of the venue areas, adding, “To ensure a peaceful and congenial atmosphere at the Ijtema grounds, the government has taken all-out security measures.”

According to Ijtema Schedule, the second phase of the Bishwa Ijtema will begin from January 17.

The home minister will also pay a visit to the Bishwa Ijtema ground on Thursday and look into security measures along with other facilities to be built for devotees. 

He will also inspect the Ijtema grounds and brief to local media.

The Akheri Munajat seeking peace, prosperity, brotherhood and the welfare of the Muslim Ummah would separately take place at the end of the Ijtema.

On behalf of the Ijtema preparation committee and the administration, the necessary field preparations works aiming to hold the Ijtema, is going on in full swing for the last one month.

“Hundreds of volunteers including teachers, students, professionals and common people are voluntarily participating in the works for preparing the Ijtema ground everyday from dawn to dusk”, said M Mamunur Rashid, an organizer of the Ijtema preparation committee.

The volunteers are working for building tents with cloth and bamboo pillars, constructing katcha toilets, installing utility services and road construction at the Ijtema ground, he said.

Earlier, the preparation works of Ijtema Maidan were formally begun from November 4 after State Minister for Youth and Sports M Zahid Ahsan Russel inaugurated the program.

The government has already extended all the cooperation for holding the religious event peacefully, said the state minister, adding that the Awami League government has set up 13 deep tube wells surrounding the Ijtema ground in the last 11 years.

The Bishwa Ijtema has been taking place on the bank of River Turag in Tongi since 1967.