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Women take part in community Idd namaj

By Correspondent

MANGALDAI, Aug 31 � Participation of women in the community �Namaj� (prayer) equally with men is a rare phenomenon in the State unlike that in Mecca in Saudi Arabia. But nowadays during Idd it has become a common phenomenon in Bandiya village near here where the women community participates in the Idd namaj parallely with their male counterparts and this has became a social tradition in the village.

Since 1999, the women of the locality have been taking part in such community prayer for Idd under the same religious priest but not as openly as the men. The village men took part in Namaj in the Bandiya Iddgah field while the adjacent primary school campus surrounded by screens are used by the women and entry of males is strictly restricted.

According to Rahima Khatun, an educated woman of the locality, religiously there is no restriction for women taking part in the community Namaj along with men. But the existing social system is yet to accept this phenomenon as the village women are not accustomed to such religious rituals openly with their male counterparts. However she is hopeful that there is not much time left when female members will be taking part in community prayer for Idd equally with the males without the resticting covers.

It is pertinent to add that with the passage of time, the event is getting popular and from 400 participants in the initial year, the number of women offering namaj has gone up to nearly 1200.

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