SRINAGAR/TRIVANDRUM, 4 December 2005 — The departure of pilgrims for Haj 2005 started here yesterday with Hajis from Kashmir and Kerala leaving for the holy land. The first batch of 216 Jeddah-bound locals boarded the Srinagar-Jeddah direct flight amid recitation of Qur’anic verses by relatives and friends bidding farewell to the pilgrims.
The first official Haj flight carrying 293 pilgrims, 167 of them women, left the northern Kerala embarkation point of Calicut yesterday for Madinah.
The first batch of pilgrims was seen off at the Srinagar airport by state Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who flew in here yesterday to see off the pilgrims.
The pilgrims were taken in airconditioned coaches from the city’s tourist reception center to the airport where authorities had made arrangements for wearing of the “ihrams” ablutions, foreign exchange and immigration formalities.
With moist eyes, the relatives bid farewell to the pilgrims at the TRC. “It is an opportunity for which I have waited all my life. Thank Allah, today I am embarking on this holy journey,” said one of the pilgrims.
Interestingly, this year’s Kashmiri pilgrims include India’s youngest and the oldest Makkah bound pilgrims. There is the 100-year old pilgrim from Anantnag district and a two-year-old baby.
Kerala minister in charge of Haj V.K. Ibrahim Kunhu, who flagged off the Air-India flight AI3801, said all arrangements have been made to ensure hassle-free departure of nearly 12,000 pilgrims flying directly to Madinah under the state-controlled Haj Committee from across the state and Lakshadweep.
Earlier, Indian Union Muslim League leader Panakkad Syed Mohammed Ali Shihab Thangal inaugurated the temporary Haj camp where pilgrims had started arriving as early as Friday evening.
Some 50 pilgrims had left here Friday under the banner of Kerala Haj Group that is sending 613 pilgrims this year. Apart from the 29 all-economy official flights, India’s flag carrier is operating 19 chartered flights from Calicut airport for private Haj groups and the first chartered flight took off at 7 a.m. on Friday. There will be two flights each today, tomorrow and Tuesday.
