MINA, 11 January 2006 — Officials managing Haj arrangements said yesterday that pilgrims should behave responsibly and avoid carrying unnecessary stuff with them during the symbolic ritual of stoning the Satan at the Jamrat.
The stoning ritual is the one in which hundreds of people have died in stampedes in the past. Officials in charge of crowd control say one of the major obstacles in smooth flow of pilgrims toward the Jamrat are the pilgrims themselves. They are those pilgrims who carry heavy luggage with them causing immense problems all through the way for others.
“The government is persistent in persuading them not to carry anything while moving to stone the Satan but the problem persists,” said Abdullah Hadi, an official at the Jamrat.
To cope with the situation, the security forces early yesterday started confiscating heavy luggage on all the roads leading to Jamrat, which saw some skirmishes between the pilgrims and security personnel. But those manning the roads and were deployed to manage the crowd were adamant and confiscated hundreds of items. All seized items were piled up by the side of roads under the custody of Civil Defense personnel until pilgrims could return for them.
Though officials tried their best, the tide of pilgrims became at times overwhelming and security personnel were seen giving up efforts to confiscate items. One Civil Defense official said that he and his colleagues were having a difficult time regulating the confiscation of large items as well as maintaining safety measures.
“Unless pilgrims themselves take the initiative and realize what a great threat they pose to others by carrying such items with them, the problem will continue,” said Saleh Al-Ghamdi, a Civil Defense official.
Many pilgrims simply do not have a place to put their belongings. Al-Ghamdi said that there should be a public awareness campaign to warn pilgrims of the dangers of bringing too many personal effects to the Jamrat.
“I have observed that a good number of pilgrims come to the Jamrat with their baggage in a bid to go to Makkah directly from there for Tawaf,” he said. “Also many pilgrims come directly from Muzdalifa to Jamrat with their baggage to perform the stoning.”
Pilgrims carrying heavy baggage are a common sight in the valley of Mina. They carry everything from bags to a trolley, folding chairs, umbrellas and even portable tents. Their presence reduces the speed of pilgrims’ flow toward the Jamrat. Sometimes, they bang into other pilgrims leading to injuries. But they look unconcerned.
Not only are the pilgrims responsible for this hazard, equally responsible are some of the muallims that don’t pay much attention to the safety of their pilgrims. They just leave the pilgrims to do anything, any time, anywhere, Al-Ghamdi said.
Pilgrims have their own explanations for carrying inconvenient baggage. They say that they cannot leave their belongings in camps — for fear of theft. An African pilgrim, Abdullah Saed, said, “Who will take the responsibility of my luggage? We are poor people and if we lost something it will be difficult for us to buy them again.”
When reminded that the Haj is obligatory only on those who can afford it, Abdullah disagreed and moved on with his loaded trolley.
