Haj: technical lacunae

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The status quo is that the intending Hajis are not at fault. They bestowed their trust and hard-earned money with the government-regulated Haj nexus, and now more than 65,000 pilgrims are keeping their fingers-crossed. The official word is that there was a technical lacunae and the 'Tawafa' services supposed to be duly completed by the quota-wielders, both private and government, were not done in time. This places the entire responsibility on Hajj operators and they must undergo retribution.

The Saudi government, as usual, on its part had exhibited largesse and accommodated around 10,000 more out of timeline pilgrims. But that cannot absolve our unprofessional clique at work to go scot-free, as has been convention on such national torpedoes, and the Ministry and the operators should face the music. It has also become inevitable at this point of time to revisit the entire mechanism of Haj operations at work and streamline them on the latest lines as practised by many in the world.

It is a pity, likewise, that a large number of overseas Pakistanis who opted for going to Hajj through this nexus are stranded in the country. Many of them had already air-dashed to their near and dear ones in advance, hoping for a blessed sojourn to the holy lands after seeking and offering blessings to their wards. The point is: who will account for their woes, in case they miss the privilege of going to Hajj, which seems likely to be the case for many of them?

The fervour, as far as Pakistanis are concerned, in terms of their belief and societal convention, is that most of the intending Hajis save for years, and keep praying to see the light of the day when they would make it to Haj and Umrah. Denying them this privilege on the premise of unprofessionalism, and trying to cover it up, is unacceptable and is a crime, per se.

The authorities are in need of working day in and out to realise the dream of the lingering pilgrims, and at the same time come down hard on characters who are responsible for this psychological and ministerial mess.