JEDDAH, 8 March 2004 — India’s Haj operations ended yesterday, coinciding with the closure of the Haj Terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport.
Saudi Arabian Airlines flew the last group of 291 Indian pilgrims from Madinah to Ahmedabad in the morning.
Still to leave are 11 accident victims who are hospitalized in Madinah. They include seven injured in an accident involving their bus while traveling from Makkah to Madinah after Haj. The four others include two each brought in by the Haj Committee of India (HCI) and private tour operators.
Omar Arafat, one of the twins born to an Indian Haj pilgrim in Arafat on Jan. 31, remains in an incubator in a hospital in Makkah. The infant’s Delhi-based parents Jalaluddin and Mehraj Begum are living in the accommodation provided by the Consulate General of India in the holy city and monitoring the child’s progress. His twin sister Mina Arafat died soon after birth. There were two other births during the Haj, one each in Makkah and Madinah.
“All pilgrims in hospital are being looked after by the consulate’s welfare staff and once they are fit enough to travel, they will be sent by regular flights,” Consul General Syed Akbaruddin told a press conference. He said preparations would begin in April for the next Haj.
There were 165 natural deaths among Indian pilgrims this time against 270 in 2000. Deaths in accidents totaled 15, including 13 in the Jamrat stampede and two in traffic accidents. There were three other deaths among local Indian pilgrims.
In all 117,490 Indian pilgrims performed the Haj, including 71,711 who came through the HCI and the remainder brought in by private tour operators. Of them, 65 percent were up to 59 years of age and nearly six percent above 71 years.
Stay provided to the HCI pilgrims under the reserved accommodation scheme was the highest this time — 69,370 as against 66,803 during the last Haj and 22,972 in 1994.
An active task forced that included a scooter brigade took care of lost pilgrims and helped them in locating their camps. In all nine scooter riders in Makkah and three others in Madinah undertook the task.
Doctors and paramedics visited buildings and treated 43,256 pilgrims during the season.
Compensation totaling SR211,165 was paid to pilgrims who met with unnatural deaths as well as those who reported loss of their baggage or money. “A private Indian firm tied up with a local counterpart to arrange for such payments,” Akbaruddin said.
In a post-Haj survey, 20,210 pilgrims responded to the consulate’s questionnaire that was circulated in English, Urdu, Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. The survey shows that about 95 percent performed their first Haj. Eighty-eight percent attended Haj training and orientation courses, 77 percent were literate, 23 percent had traveled by air previously, 50 percent found the attitude of the consulate staff at the airport good, 40 percent found the buildings in which they stayed in Makkah good, 41 percent said the service provided in the buildings was not up to the mark, and 85 percent said they had availed themselves of the Haj mission’s medical facilities.
