Citing religious sensitivity, the Nepal government has banned the annual Islamic Jalsa Ijtima of Muslims taking place on the India-Nepal border. There were to be discussions on Islam here. It is being said that many banned Muslim religious leaders were also invited. Now the Home Ministry of Nepal has put a stop to this and has asked the tents set up for this event and the people who came for it to vacate their area within 24 hours.
In fact, preparations for the Ijtima were going on in full swing in Sunsari district of Koshi, Nepal, adjacent to the Jogbani border. This area of Nepal is adjacent to Jogbani city of Araria district of Bihar state of India.
Tents were set up in 80 acres for the Ijtima from 21st to 23rd November in Duhabi and Ithari of this district. Complete arrangements were also made for the accommodation of about 50 thousand people coming here.
For this, Muslims from many countries around the world were invited. Let us tell you that Sunsari district is a religiously sensitive area. There was a fear of inflaming religious sentiments in Hindu majority country Nepal due to this big event of Muslims.
It is noteworthy that in the beginning of October last month, huge communal violence had broken out in Nepalganj of Banke district of this neighboring country of India. Then the Muslim mob here not only raised slogans of ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ and ‘Labbaik-Labbaik’, took out processions regarding a Facebook post but also resorted to violence by pelting stones at the Hindu rally.
To avoid this, Nepal has adopted an attitude of safety from accidents. Because of this, this event being held near the Indian border has been banned due to security reasons. In this case, Sunsari district administration had received news that Maulana, Ulema and Maulvi, supporters of banned fanatic Muslims from many countries including India, were going to participate in the Ijtima.
Due to its event, Nepal was also afraid that its relations with the neighboring country India would deteriorate. Sunsari district administration had sought advice from the Nepal government regarding this annual religious event of Muslims. Sunsari Chief District Magistrate Humkala Pandey had written a letter to the Home Ministry regarding the ‘Ijtima’.
Considering the seriousness of the matter, the Home Ministry issued instructions to stop this program at any cost. District Magistrate Pandey said that following the instructions of the Home Ministry, written instructions have been issued to the organizers to stop the program.
Nepal took this decision after holding a meeting with the officials of Sunsari district along with the intelligence department here and several political parties. In view of this, the Chief District Magistrate of Sunsari along with the security officials of the district had gone to inspect the venue.
During this time, along with immediately removing the tents set up for the Ijtima, he also directed the people who had come there from outside to leave the district within 24 hours.
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