Kishoreganj: The largest Eid-ul-Fitr jamaat(congregation) of the country was held today on the historic Sholakia Eidgah Maidan here with participation of over thousands of devotees from home and abroad amid stringent security measures against the backdrop of last year militant attack.

Eminent Islamic scholar Maulana Faird Uddin Masud conducted the congregation at 10 in the morning. Following the tradition, bullets were fired from the shot gun to start the jamaat. This year Sholakia Eidgah held its 190th Eid congregation.

A special prayer was offered seeking peace, welfare and prosperity of the mankind and the nation.

In his sermon, Maulana Masud demanded immediate punishment of the attackers and expressed hope no such incident would be taken place in the days to come.

Devotees were allowed to enter the ground after undergoing an exhaustive search. Leaders from different political parties and government officials took part in the jamaat along with the commoners.

Two special trains ran between Bhairab-Kishoreganj and Mymensingh-Kishoreganj to facilitate the Muslims joining the country’s largest Eid congregation.

The first Eid jamat was held in 1828 on this ground. Maulana Sayeed Ahmed of Bowlai Shaheb Bari in Kishoreganj was the first Imam to conduct the Eid jamaat attended by one lakh and 25 thousand (soa lakh) devotees. It then took the name of Solakia.

Later, Mannan Dad Khan, former Dewan of Haibatnagar in Kishoreganj offered 4.35 acres of land through Wakf deed in 1950 and now the Eidgah has seven acres of land. This Eidgah is situated on the northern bank of the Norsunda River. With its 265 rows the Eidgah is now ready to accommodate a large number of devotees coming from every corner of the country and also from abroad.

Moreover, open spaces and houses around the Eidgah are also prepared to accommodate surplus devotees. More than three lakh devotees come every year to perform the Eid prayers here.

Against the backdrop of the last year’s militant attack, the government has taken unprecedented security measures for the country’s largest Eidgah Sholakia, where hundreds of thousands of people offer prayers on the Eid day.

‘We have bought the Sholakia Eidgah under unprecedented security arrangement with deployment of five platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel and a large number of police, RAB and Ansar personnel,’ Kishoreganj Police Super Md Anwar Hossain told BSS.

Plain clothed personnel from different intelligence agencies have been entrusted with strict vigilance in and around Sholakia, he also said.

Closed Circuit Camera Television (CCTVs) and watch towers have been set up at each of the entry points of Kishoreganj town and the Sholakia Eidgah to make the security fool proof. None will be allowed to enter the Eidgah without search.