Maulana Saad followers to vacate Ijtema grounds, government to take control

Followers of Tablighi Jamaat leader Maulana Saad Kandhalvi have announced their decision to vacate the Bishwa Ijtema grounds in Tongi, Gazipur, following a deadly clash that left two people dead and hundreds injured.  

In the wake of the deadly clash at the Bishwa Ijtema grounds in Tongi, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury convened an emergency meeting with all parties concerned.

After attending the meeting with the advisers, Reza Arif, a follower of Maulana Saad, announced, "Muslims fighting among themselves is unacceptable. We are leaving the grounds. From now on, the government will take control of the area."

The meeting was called at the Secretariat this afternoon with Advisers Adilur Rahman Khan, Nahid Islam, Hassan Ariff, and AFM Khalid Hossain in attendance, among others, alongside some followers of Tablighi Jamaat's Maulana Zubayer Ahmed and Maulana Saad Kandhalvi of India.

At around 3 am today (18 December), two people were killed and hundreds injured in a bloody clash between the two groups over occupying the Bishwa Ijtema field in Tongi, Gazipur.

After attending the meeting, Reza Arif, a follower of Maulana Saad, appealed to the opposing group, saying, "We request the other side to also leave the grounds peacefully."

In response to the violence, a large number of army personnel, police personnel, RAB and BGB members were deployed around the Ijtema ground along with various armoured vehicles.