JEDDAH, 17 February — An Indian Haj good will delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Works Ali Muhammad Sagar arrived here yesterday. Indian Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad, Consul General Syed Akbaruddin and Consul Haj Anwar Haleem received the delegation at the Haj terminal.
The delegation of 16 members includes K. Rahman Khan, Ali Muhammad Naik, and Abdul Samad Samdani all MPs, Uttar Pradesh minister Dr. Seema Rizvi, Bihar minister Muhammad Jawed, MLA Akhlaq Ahmad also from Bihar, Justice Fakhruddin Ahmad from the newly created state of Chattisgarh, Syed Shah Burhanuddin Quadri, Professor Nusrat Ullah Khan, Abdul Mabood Khan, Muhammad Wasi Akhtar, S.M. Asif, Ilyas Khan, Peerzada Shibli Qasim and Nassarruddin.
Akbaruddin told Arab News that a minister from Kerala Dr. M.K. Muneer who was also in the delegation, has not come. The visiting members are expected to call on local officials and dignitaries during their stay for the pilgrimage.
Earlier in New Delhi, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee bid bon voyage to the delegation. The delegation called on Vajpayee on Friday at his residence on Race Course Road in Delhi. “My best wishes are with you all. Go happily and return happily,” the prime minister said as he greeted the high-level delegation.
Nearly 120,000 Indian pilgrims, constituting the second largest nationality after Indonesia, are performing Haj. Of them, about 75,000 have come through the Central Haj Committee.
In the course of a 25-minute meeting, the delegation thanked the prime minister for the facilities provided to the pilgrims. Delegation leader Sagar told reporters later that the delegation would convey the government’s good wishes to Saudi Arabian government for its arrangements.
Of the various arrangements made by the Indian Consulate here is a database at its website providing instant information about flights and accommodation as well as contact telephone number of every Indian pilgrim in Makkah. For the first time, in cooperation with the South Asian Moassasa and the Mutawafeen Indian pilgrims will be moved to the Jamarat in manageable groups for the ritual of stoning during specified timings, Anwar said. This is aimed at providing for a greater measure of safety for the pilgrims, Anwar added.