Security tight for Bangladesh ‘mini-Hajj’

Security was tight Friday in Bangladesh as hundreds of thousands of people gathered for a Muslim gathering rivalling the Hajj in Mecca for size.

The Biswa Ijtema, or the World Congregation, draws up to three million Muslims from Bangladesh and abroad on the banks of the river Turag at the factory town of Tongi. The annual gathering, which takes place some 25 kilometres north of Dhaka, was launched by the Tablig Jamaat group in 1964. Tension has been running high ahead of this year's four-day event after violent clashes between two Bangladeshi rival factions left one person dead and dozens injured in December. The congregation, which is normally held in January, was postponed following the violence, prompting Bangladesh authorities to hold several rounds of meetings with rival factions to broker peace. Police would deploy hundreds of officers including many in plainclothes at the congregation ground to prevent any repeat of clashes.