There was a pilgrim at the stoning ritual at the Jamrat Al-Aqaba who carried a huge bundle of belongings on his shoulder. It was a frightening scene. The man could have fallen with his heavy load in that huge mass of pilgrims, taking other pilgrims with him as he went down — causing a disaster.
Of course, everyone has the right to carry their belongings wherever they want. But people should be aware of the danger they may present to others.
Such scenes are becoming frequent, even among pilgrims taken care of by the Tawafa organizations for foreign pilgrims and the Haj agencies for domestic pilgrims.
The Tawafa organizations serve almost 1.4 million pilgrims who come from more than 170 countries.
These pilgrims have gone through various kinds of awareness programs, and during the past three years the Haj Ministry organized a number of training courses and workshops in Arab and Islamic countries. The six Tawafa organizations set up for the service of foreign pilgrims also conduct various Haj awareness programs in various languages for their pilgrims before and after they move to Mina.
I am sure that many will agree with me that these training programs, courses and Haj classes are not enough. The Tawafa organizations and Haj guides will not be able to achieve their objective fully if the awareness programs do not go hand in hand with measures to make sure the pilgrims follow the instructions they are given.
The Tawafa organizations have been instructing their pilgrims for many years to leave their personal belongings inside their tents before going to Jamarat. But many pilgrims ignore such directives.
How can we ensure that pilgrims do in fact leave their belongings behind?
What is required now is a system to be implemented with the support of the law. This demands the deployment of a large number of security officers on the streets leading to Jamarat to stop pilgrims who turn a deaf ear to safety instructions.
Arab News From the Local Press 15 February 2003
