Farooq concerned over ‘lack of facilities’ to Kashmiri Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia
Urges union minister for minority affairs to take up the issue with authorities
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference President and Member of Parliament from Srinagar Dr Farooq Abdullah on Friday expressed dismay over complaints by Hajis from Kashmir over the alleged lack of transport facilities including proper accommodation at Mecca and Madina in Saudi Arabia.
Decrying the “lack of facilities being given to the pilgrims”, Farooq said the pilgrims were sending “distressing messages to their kin back home about the scantiness of facilities being given to them at Mecca”.
The Hajis from Kashmir are complaining about the unavailability of transport including other basic facilities,” Farooq said adding the relatives of the Hajis from Kashmir “are lamenting that the room arrangements for the Kashmiri Pilgrims are pathetic, overcrowded”.
He said the reports “have it that the rooms which are suitable for just three persons are being allotted to six and seven people and most of the Hajis are first-time travelers so they take things as they get without even complaining, what they are actually eligible for”.
Farooq alleged that the rooms allotted to the pilgrims were “in shambles and the bathrooms facilities are grimly”.
“The pilgrims are also complaining that the khadims designated for Kashmir based pilgrims are least cooperative.”
He said that the pilgrims were already going through duress in wake of doing away with Hajj Subsidies.
Farooq said the state and the central governments were duty bound to make the trip comfortable for pilgrims.
“However the reports coming from the Kashmiri pilgrims are not satisfactory,” he said.
Farooq also had a telephonic conversation with union minister for minority affairs Syed Muktar Abbas Naqvi over the matter and urged him to address the problems concerning the Hajis hailing from Kashmir.
KV News
