Indians who were part of the annual five-day Haj pilgrimage that concluded on Tuesday have complained about mismanagement by Haj Committee of India (HCI) officials.
Complaints include lack of cleanliness in the camps, inadequate food, and overcrowding in the vast tent city in Mina where pilgrims stay during the five-day rituals. HCI did not give its response to this newspaper's questions about the allegations, saying that the offices were closed for Eid.
Hajis took to social media to complain about the woeful conditions in the camps. One pilgrim from Telangana said in a video released on social media. "We were treated worse than beggars. It is the total failure of the Haj Committee of India which is responsible for taking care of Hajis."
Pilgrims said the Indian camps were overcrowded and dirty and the HCI officials in Saudi Arabia were unhelpful. "There was no cleanliness in the Indian camps. Each of us paid more than Rs three lakh for the pilgrimage, but we were treated like we came for free," said a pilgrim.
Shams Chowdhury of Mumbai-based Haj Pilgrims Social Justice Group, a trust that helps and trains pilgrims, said there are reports that tents that could accommodate 80 to 100 pilgrims were crammed with double the number. "You can blame the Haj Committee and the government for this, but there were more pilgrims this time. It was not just the Indians who suffered, but pilgrims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Turkey faced similar difficulties," said Chowdhury.
Haji Khalid Babu Qureshi, a lawyer and former member of the Maharashtra State Wakf Board which administers Muslim religious trusts, said that he received videos from pilgrims who complained about the conditions during the Haj. "This is similar to 2022 when I went with my family. Buses that ferry pilgrims to different sites for rituals were late and crowded. The HCI appointed local agents called Moallim to guide the pilgrims, but they were not helpful. The situation is the same this time," said Qureshi.
Pilgrims will start returning to India by the end of this week. Qureshi added that a special category of pilgrims, called 'Khadim ul Hujjaj', Muslim government servants who travel practically free, is expected to guide fellow Indians. "However, they only take care of themselves. They get better facilities."
Chowdhury said that 1.8 million pilgrims completed Haj this year. "However, the Saudi Arabian government has started issuing tourist visas to visit the holy cities. These visitors are Muslim but do not have Haj visas. The number of pilgrims could have been more than two million. This could have worsened the crowding. When thousands of pilgrims gather for five days there are always difficulties," Chowdhury said.
Adding to the difficulties was the intense day temperatures above 46 degrees Celsius. There are reports of at least 19 pilgrims dying of heat stress. Most of the 1,75,000 pilgrims from India travel through HCI as the cost is half of the Rs seven to eight lakh charged by private tour operators.
