Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Around 10 lakh Jamatis from 15 countries across the world are likely to attend a four-day ‘Aalmi Tablighi Ijtema’ at Eitkhedi on the outskirts of the state capital from Friday. Besides, India, the countries included Indonesia, Japan, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, UAE, UK, USA and others.
This will be the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic that the Ijtima will be a full-fledged affair. Over the past three years, it was organised on a smaller scale with only Jamats from Madhya Pradesh and neigbouring states attending.
Umar Hafiz from the organising committee told the Free Press that the Ijtima, besides being Green & Clean like last year, would also be dust-free this time. Arrangements are being made for continuous sprinkling of water to ensure a dust-free atmosphere.
Tents have come up over an area of around 50 acres, including 45 zones for meals and 15 for snacks. Meals and snacks will be offered at subsidised rates. Around 4,000 policemen, led by 10 ASPs and 30 DSPs, will be deployed for security. A control room has been set up and a police outpost will be functional round-the-clock. Around 200 CCTV cameras have also been installed to keep an eye on the crowd. Bullet firefighters will be patrolling the congregation venue. The vehicles of the Jamats have been exempted from payment of toll tax
Ijtima is basically meant to equip the faithful with knowledge about Islam. Ijtima was organised for the first time in Bhopal in 1949 at Shakoor Masjid. As the number of participants kept on growing, the venue was shifted to Taj-ul-Masajid and later to Eitkhedi. It is said to be the third largest congregation of Muslims in the world.
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