Id celebrated with prayers for peace

Muslims across the country celebrated Id-ul-Fitr on Monday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan. 

Tight security was in place in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and in the national capital to ensure that the festival passes off peacefully.

In the capital, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur drove to the residence of Vice-President Hamid Ansari to greet him. Singh, who said the festival will “further strengthen our cultural bonds,” also attended a lunch hosted by BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.

People dressed in their festive best offered prayers at Jama Masjid, Fathepuri Masjid, Hazrat Nizamuddin and other mosques in the city. 

In Assam, singed with the recent communal violence, peace was the  focal point of celebrations as thousands of people offered Namaz-e-Id at mosques across the state, including in the troubled Kokrajhar, Chirang and Dhubri districts.

Thousands of Muslims participated in special prayers organised at Idgahs, mosques and open grounds and prayed for lasting peace in Assam, particularly in the Bodoland Territorial Areas districts. 

About 20,000 policemen were deployed across Bangalore after 30,000 northeast people left the city for Guwahati  between August 15 and 17, following rumours of attacks on them. 

In peace

Id was celebrated amid peace and religious fervour across Mumbai and Maharashtra with Muslims offering special congregational prayers. In most areas of Mumbai, including Colaba, Nagpada, Mazgaon and Mahim, the celebrations began with the bursting of fire crackers. In Andhra Pradesh, Muslims offered “Namaz-e-Id” at Idgahs, open grounds and mosques, with a special mention for peace in Assam and Myanmar. 

Islamic youth organisations like Jama-e-Islami, Students Islamic Organisation (SIO) and others collected funds to help the victims of Assam and Myanmar violence. Posters depicting the plight of the refugees in camps were pasted on the walls of the mosques, encouraging the minority community to help their brethren. The clerics also prayed for the Muslims of Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The biggest and most colourful congregation was at the Miralam Idgah, where over three lakh people offered prayers.