DHAKA, Dec 3: The three-day Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj, began on Friday on the bank of the River Turag at Tongi, 22km north of the capital city.

About three million devotees from home and abroad are expected to attend the 41st congregation organised by the Biswa Tabligh Jamaat, which will conclude on Sunday. Although the Ijtema formally began on Friday, people had started gathering in Tongi since Wednesday.

About 2,600 people from 41 countries - India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Sudan, Malaysia, Kuwait, Myanmar, Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Lebanon, Indonesia, Singapore, England, South Africa, the Philippines, Mauritius, Turkey, Australia, Canada, USA, Hong Kong, Russia, Kenya, Brunei, Germany, Cambodia, New Zealand, Malawi, the Netherlands, Belgium, Brazil, Fiji, Finland, France and Thailand - had reached the Ijtema ground till Thursday afternoon. Many more arrived on Friday.

On Thursday, scholars from home and various countries delivered sermons on religious values. Their lectures were translated into Arabic, Bangla, English, Hindi and Urdu. Moulana Mozammal of Bangladesh delivered a sermon.

Like in previous years, various programmes, including marriage without dowry and enlisting names for chilla, a 40-day tour on Tabligh, have also been taken. Sermons will also be delivered on the proclamation of faith on Allah, prayer, knowledge, remembrance of Allah, brotherhood, honest intention and Tabligh, the campaign for Islam.

Tongi, the small town on the outskirts of the capital, wore a festive look with banners and festoons inscribed with welcome words and religious citations. The local administration, law-enforcing agencies and voluntary organizations and institutions have taken adequate measures to make the congregation a success.

Police said about 6,000 law-enforcement personnel will patrol the congregation venue. A control room and five sub-control rooms will work round the clock and 34 closed-circuit cameras have been installed at different points of the two square-kilometre main pandal.

Five check-post equipped with modern gadgets, including metal detectors, have also been set up. The district administration has imposed a ban on screening movies in the cinemas in Tongi during the Ijtema. Health camps have been set up at nine points of the venue while the number of beds in the Tongi Hospital has been raised.