The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has decided that only the Haj Pilgrims who possess international passport would be permitted to perform Haj. This move has certainly caused a great difficulty to the international Haj Pilgrims, especially from India. Because in India there is altogether a different system in place to facilitate the safe passage of Haj pilgrims. This service is carried out by various governmental agencies such as Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Haj Committee of India (HCI), Airport Authority of India (AAI), and Banks etc. Apart from governmental agencies various private tour operators also provide Haj and Umrah facilities. Clearing the confusion regarding this issue, Vice Chairman of HCI explained, “This is the decision of the government of the KSA and not of the government of India so we are helpless.”
A majority of Indian pilgrims prefer to go through the HCI for better conveniences and less expenses. Curiously, out of more than a lakh of pilgrims only a minuscule percentage holds international passport. The process here involves applying to the HCI, with a Demand Draft (DD) of the required money, in the initial months of the Islamic calendar. After thorough scrutiny a draw of lots is exercised. Only those whose names appear are called for completing the formalities. Once this stage is over, these selected pilgrims are issued Special Permits (Temporary Passports) by the MEA. On this Special Permit the Royal Embassy of the KSA issues visas to the pilgrims. Not only this the HCI also organises training camps for the pilgrims.
If this new directive of the KSA is to be implemented in India, it would be a cause of great many difficulties for the Indian pilgrims particularly those routing their application through the HCI. As in Indian setting, it is extremely difficult to obtain a passport because of complexities involved in this process. It is just next to impossible for those residing in rural and far flung areas. In this case the HCI comes as a major source of relief for such pilgrims. For the simple reason that all their paper work is taken care of by the HCI. The illiterate and semi-literate pilgrims need not bother about their formalities and they can fully concentrate on their pilgrimage.
The Vice Chairman of HCI Hasan Ahmad was opposed to this new policy. “The HCI totally disapproves of this new policy of the KSA.” He said further, “The In-charge (Haj Affairs) in the MEA has informed that this condition was imposed last year but somehow the Indian government persuaded the KSA to defer it by one year. However, this year those desirous of undertaking the pilgrimage must obtain their passports.”
Mr. Hasan Ahmad ensured that the HCI would talk to the GOI in this regard and request it to talk to the KSA, in turn, to do away with this condition. Mr. Hasan was of the view, “In the Indian context it is an impossible task to practically implement this decision. Certainly this will create unnecessary hardships for the Indian pilgrims.” Elaborating one out of the many difficulties, Mr. Ahmad observed, “Those (pilgrims) who do not possess international passports and their names appear in the draw of lots, then it is next to impossible for them to obtain a fresh passport in this short duration of time.”
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