First phase of Bishwa Ijtema to start on January 31

The first phase of the 2025 Bishwa Ijtema will be held from January 31 to February 2 at Tongi’s Turag riverbank, while the second phase will take place on February 7-9. 

Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury shared the updates after a meeting with two factions of the Tabligh Jamaat at the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday. 

Although followers of Maulana Saad Kandhalvi participated in the meeting, representatives of Maulana Zubair were absent. 

The adviser said it had yet to be decided which faction would hold its event first. 

They had discussed topics such as the handover and preparation of the Ijtema ground, security, visas for foreign attendees, uninterrupted power supply, construction of floating bridges, emergency disaster arrangements, hygienic food, and traffic management for the final prayer day, Jahangir added.

Since 1967, the Tabligh Jamaat has held Bishwa Ijtema at a vast ground on the banks of the Turag River, 22km north of Dhaka. 

It was split into two phases in 2011 to accommodate the increasing number of participants.