Eid Mubarak and warm greetings to my Muslim friends celebrating as we start the month of Shawwal!
Ah, how nice it was awaking to a warm cup of coffee and breakfast. Refreshing as it was to welcome the morning meal, I was off early yesterday morning to Red Road where people had already begun to gather for the largest gathering of Eid Prayers in Kolkata.
Though no government census is taken, I am guessing the numbers are in the hundreds of thousands.
For about half an hour the Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Masjid gave a fiery sermon. Imploring the Muslim’s of Kolkata to rise up and be politically motivated in the coming elections and in light of current crises in the city which led to the murder of a young Muslim man (Rizwan) at the hands of Hindu’s. While there is an ongoing investigation, the media is pointing to the involvement of top police brass in the city. Anyhow, this was a large part of the Eid Khutba (sermon).
After the Khutba was completed a siren was sounded. Thus the Allahu Akbar’s began and the prayers were under way. Once the Eid Namaz was completed everyone arose to hug one another and offer hearty "Eid Mubarak’s." Much like Christian’s offering a Merry Christmas to others during the Holidays.
I will try to post more later, but wanted to put up a few photographs of the amazing gathering of Kolkata’s Muslim’s.
Here’s a first glimpse.
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