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Sending out a larder message that land borders were no bar when it comes to propagating bonhomie, people from Dighaltari in Coochbehar district came out in their hundreds on Thursday to offer Eid prayers along with their counterparts across the border at a 200-year-old Jama Masjid in Kurigram, which falls on the other side of the India-Bangladesh border.
Though the mosque is located in Bangladesh, hundreds of Muslims from India cross over to offer Namaz every year on the occasion of Eid. Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Mohammad Alamgir Hussain, a Bangladesh native and the president of this mosque, said, "This mosque goes back 200 years. For several years now, people from both countries come together on Eid to offer Namaz. The tradition has continued through time. There is no greater happiness than to be able to come together here on Eid and offer prayers. It doesn't feel like we are from two different countries. We live happily and in peace on both sides of the border. We are one family. On the Bangladesh side, this area is called Bansjani, Jhakuatari." Hussain, an Indian who routinely offers Namaz at this mosque across the border, told ANI, "This mosque is situated at the zero point. We all come together to offer to Namaz. Earlier, this place was home to just two families. The village goes by the name Jhakuatari on both sides of the border. We are all delighted to be here together on the occasion of Eid today. We all know each other by face and, hence, don't need permission to step across the border. One of my brothers is in India while the other is based in Bangladesh." This mosque was built before the 'Mukti Juddha' or the liberation of Bangladesh from Pakistan (post the war with India in 1971). It was a part of Pakistan before the liberation war. The village is known by the same name, Jhakuatari, on both sides of the border. Since there is no mosque in this village, people from Dighaltari in the Coochbehar district, step across the border to offer namaz. (ANI)
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