Eid-ul-Fitr marked a return to normal in Bangladesh as Muslims took part in prayer congregations across the country after a two-year gap due to the pandemic, bdnews24.com reports.
In his sermon before the Eid prayers at the National Eidgah ground on Tuesday, Maulana Mohammad Ruhul Amin, khatib of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, stressed the need to maintain communal harmony in the country.
"This is a country of peace and harmony. People of all religions live in harmony here."
"Let us refrain from making any provocative statements that could affect the peace. I will not make such statements."
Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of Muslims, has brought renewed joy to devotees this year as they look to put the painful memories of the coronavirus pandemic behind them.
The festival, which lost some of its lustre due to wide-ranging COVID-19 restrictions, was not marked by the customary congregation at the National Eidgah ground for the last two years. Even though the Eid prayers were held in mosques, the familiar sight of Muslims embracing one another and shaking hands was also lost amid the strict COVID-19 restrictions.
Although the sky was overcast in the morning, the heavens didn't open until the end of the prayers at 9:15 am, much to the relief of worshippers.
Ruhul Amin prayed for the welfare of Bangladesh in the supplication after the Eid prayers as the effects of the Ukraine war rippled across the world.
Highlighting the blood and sacrifices behind an independent Bangladesh, he prayed for protection from plots to undermine the country and an end to all wars and conflicts worldwide.
Crowds of worshippers, including women and children, attended the main Eid congregation at the National Eidgah this year.
Jahangir Hossain, a government employee who had been attending the congregation at the National Eidgah for two decades prior to the pandemic, said, "The fact that I couldn't pray here at the Eidgah for the last two years had been bothering me a lot."
Eight-year-old Adnan Ahmed came to pray with his father. "I feel very excited to be here," he said.