Grand congregation: Second phase of Raiwind ijtema concludes

7,000 people from across the world attend the event.

LAHORE:

The second phase of the annual Raiwind Ijtema concluded on Sunday with special prayers for peace, prosperity and harmony in Pakistan.

Over 7,000 people from all over the nation and various parts of the world participated in the event. They started leaving the venue at around 9am following the conclusion of prayers. The traffic police converted the Raiwind Road into a one-way thoroughfare at 9am to facilitate the smooth of traffic leaving Lahore. The police opened the road for two-way traffic later at 1PM



Tablighi Jamaat amir Muhammad Abdul Wahhab led the concluding prayers. He prayed for Muslims to follow the tenets of Islam, the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), unity among the ummah and peace and prosperity in Pakistan.

The participants had started converging at the venue on Thursday from various parts of Pakistan. The vast majority of them elected to reside in open tents for the duration of the Ijtema. Some chose to pitch own tents. Nearly 4,000 policemen were deployed at the venue to secure the venue. The role of the police was limited to securing the venue’s periphery as internal security arrangements were handled by volunteers.

The ijtema was organised in two phases. The first phase concluded on November 9. The second phase was organised for the benefit of people from Tank, Wana, Miran Shah, Multan, Muzaffargarh, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur, Khanewal, Vehari, Rawalpindi, Jhelum, Chakwal, Attock, Talagang, Poonch, Bannu, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar, Lodhran, Rahim Yar Khan, Karachi, Lasbela, Gwadar, Makran, Turbat, Kohat, Hangu, Kurram Agency, Orakzai, Sada, Mardan, Swabi, Quetta, Sibbi, Bolan and North and South Waziristan.

The volunteers maintained public discipline. They enforced the rule regarding walking on the right side and corrected those violating it.

Muhammad Yusuf, one of the volunteers, told The Express Tribune that he had been attending the ijtema for over a decade. He said he derived solace from attending the event. Yusuf said he had come to the ijtema with his friends and relatives. He said working as a volunteer had enabled him to appreciate the purpose of the gathering. The polyglot said speaking to people in various languages including English, Urdu, Pashto and Balochi gave him pleasure as it made the participants happy.

At prayer time the venue transformed into a mammoth congregation. Those manning fruit carts, food stalls and bookshops left their stalls without any fear of robbery during prayer times to join the congregation. Loudspeakers installed a few hundred metres away relayed the sermons. The need to foster peace, harmony and tolerance was stressed in several sermons.

Muhammad Shoaib, an engineer from Karachi, said Muslims from across the sectarian spectrum had participated in the ijtema. He said the event was organised to overcome divisions among Muslims. He said the inclusive nature of the ijtema had enabled them to effectively organise the event without the assistance of the law enforcement agencies or the government.

Some police officials told The Express Tribune that Counter-terrorism Department had inspected bookstalls at the venue for selling provocative literature.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 17^th, 2014.