No gathering at Ijtema venue until election: Home minister

Mentioning that the date of Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after the Hajj, will be fixed after the national election, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan today said no gathering will be allowed at the venue until then.

The decision was taken at a meeting with the representatives of two factions of Tabligh Jamaat held at the Home Ministry, he said.

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Tabligh factions clash

The meeting was convened following a clash between two groups of the Tabligh Jamaat earlier in the day for establishing control over Ijtema Maidan that killed a one person.

The minister said the Ijtema has been delayed due to the 11th parliamentary elections billed for December 30. "All kinds of religious gatherings or rallies will be restricted on the Ijtema premises and law enforcers will guard the venue," he added.

Earlier, one person was killed and over 200 people were injured in a series of clashes between two factions of Tabligh Jamaat for establishing control over the Ijtema Maidan on the bank of the Turag River in Tongi of Gazipur.

Representatives of the two Tabligh Jamaat factions - one led by Maulana Saad Kandhalvi and the other by Maulana Jubair Hassan, Inspector General of Police, Director General of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner and other top officials of were present at the meeting.