Muslims offer Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, June 26, 2017. (Xinhua/Salim Reza)
DHAKA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Bangladeshi Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr with religious fervor amid unprecedented tight security to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Dressed in traditional clothes, Muslims offered special prayers Monday morning, seeking divine blessings, peace, progress and prosperity in Eid congregations across the country.
The main Eid congregation in the capital of Dhaka was held at the national Eidgah (open-air enclosure reserved for Eid prayers) where Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid and ministers, lawmakers and elite of the society prayed.
Like past years, the country's largest Eid congregation was held at Sholakia in Kishoreganj district, some 117 km northeast of Dhaka, which came under a deadly militant attack during last Eid occasion.
Two people, including a policeman and an attacker, were killed and 10 others, including several police personnel, were injured in several bomb explosions followed by exchange of gunfires between law enforcers and miscreants during last Eid day on July 7, 2016 at the entrance of Sholakia Eid prayer ground.
Against the backdrop of the attack, Bangladesh security authorities have taken unprecedented security measures for the country's largest Eidgah Sholakia, where hundreds of thousands of people offer prayers on the Eid day.
Bangladeshi Police Chief AKM Shahidul Hoque said the entire country has been brought under stringent security measures, with the deployment of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police for the peaceful and smooth celebration of the holy Eid-ul-Fitr.
The Bangladeshi government declared a nine-day holiday starting from June 25 for the biggest Muslim festival.
The national flag of the country was hoisted atop government and non-government offices on the Eid day while the main streets in the capital were decorated with flags imprinted with "Eid Mubarak," meaning "blessed festival" or "May you enjoy a blessed festival."
Special diets reportedly were offered in hospitals, government-owned welfare centers and shelter homes for children, socially-handicapped people and the destitute.
President Abdul Hamid has hosted a reception in honor of foreign diplomats, top officials of the government and elite of the society on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr at the presidential residence.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also exchanged Eid greetings with foreign diplomats, politicians, professionals, government officials and a cross section of people at her official residence.
