Editorial
Hajj camp mismanagement
Put an end to the ordeal of pilgrims
People intending to perform Hajj have had more than their due share of hassle and uncertainty this year. A few hundred non-ballotee pilgrims are now more or less stranded at the hajj camp, not knowing whether they can have their wish for pilgrimage fulfilled. The flight schedules have gone awry beyond imagination.And there are other problems too, some of them quite serious in nature. There is chaos at the camp. Many an elderly man or woman has not been allegedly provided with the amenities they need to stay at the place reasonably comfortably. The mosquitoes are droning and the inmates lack adequate toilet facilities. The condition at the camp is extremely unhygienic. The waiting pilgrims, who didn't know that they would have to stay at the camp for such a long time, are also running short of money. The camp managers are obliged to be looking after these people with great care. What is particularly regrettable is the fact that these men and women have been invited to stay at the camp, yet the treatment that they are receiving is not of the kind that a guest on a holy mission would expect. Hajj is an annual event of great religious significance, and that makes the mismanagement at the camp very hard to explain. Those hajis and their relatives have every reason to feel hard done by. Many of them are using the savings of their lifetime to make the pilgrimage. They must now be taken good care of and all the impediments to their onward journey should be quickly removed, with only a few days to go before the Hajj. The civil aviation ministry and all others concerned are urged to look into the matter urgently and bring an end to the agonising plight of the pilgrims.
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