Biswa Ijtema: Kandhalvi’s followers want PM’s intervention
They made the call at a press conference held at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Tuesday
The followers of Indian preacher Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhalvi have sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention for organizing the Biswa Ijtema in the first week of January 2019.
Previously, Saad’s followers had set January 11, 12 and 13 for holding the Biswa Ijtema – the largest gathering of Tabligh Jamaat followers in the world, which regularly draws over three million people to the site in Tongi north of Dhaka.
However, at a press conference held at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on Tuesday,
Tabligh activist Advocate Md Yunus Molla said “a certain quarter inside the government” is disrupting Tabligh’s activities in Bangladesh.
“Tabligh Jamaat is the most influential non-political religious entity operating under the guidance of Delhi’s Nizamuddin Dargah,” Yunus Molla said.
“People such as Maulana Md Jobaer, Maulana Rabiul, Maulana Omar Faruq, Maulana Faruq and Maulana Md Hossain have established their dominance on the Kakrail Mosque and on the Ijtema grounds in Tongi.
“These people are using young madrasa students to serve their own ends, and are behind the past occurrences of violence and clashes at the Kakrail Mosque.”
Yunus Molla described Maulana Muhammad Saad Kandhalvi as the “Biswa Ameer”.
“The people will follow him anywhere. We cannot have a Biswa Ijtema, if he cannot attend it.”
Also prest at Tuesday’s press conference were the custodian of Ijtema grounds in Tongi, Engineer Muhibullah; the former diplomat Maj Gen (retd) Rafiqul Islam; and senior devotee from the Kakrail Mosque, Maulana Saifullah.
