Millions celebrate Eid across country

IANS/New DelhiMillions of Muslims celebrated Eid-al-Fitr with joy and traditional gaiety across the country, home to the world’s second largest Muslim population. The young and old thronged mosques in hundreds of cities and towns for prayers.  Festivities in some areas were, however, disrupted by rains.Some 40,000-50,000 thronged the 17th century Fatehpuri mosque in Old Delhi, and also the many roads and lanes around it.“We prayed for the welfare of all people and the country,” Naib Imam Moulvi Mohamed Mouzzam Ahmed said. “Once prayers got over, many Hindus and Sikhs came in to hug their Muslim brothers.”  Muslim men - of all age groups -  hugged one another after the prayers.Similar scenes were replicated all across the country, from Jammu and Kashmir in the northern tip to Tamil Nadu in the deep south and from Assam in the northeast to Gujarat on the west coast. Muslims in Kerala celebrated Eid a day earlier.At the historic Burha Jame Mosque in Guwahati, Imam Anowar Hussain led the prayers. “We prayed for lasting peace in Assam,” Hussain said. He added: “The true meaning of Islam is peace.”In Mumbai, lakhs of Muslims trooped out of their homes at dawn to the nearest mosque to offer the thanksgiving “khutba”.Similar prayer meetings were held all over Maharashtra.Tens of thousands of Muslims offered ‘Namaz-e-Eid’ at mosques in Andhra Pradesh. Some imams prayed for an end to conflicts in Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan.Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav joined the festivities in Lucknow and said the festival underlined universal brotherhood and secularism.Rains failed to dampen the Eid spirit in Chandigarh and some other towns of Punjab and Haryana. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal took part in the celebrations. Muslims also prayed in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir Valley even as authorities placed separatist leaders under house arrest to maintain law and order.