Ehsanul Haque Jasim :
The Bangladeshi Hajis are reportedly undergoing untold sufferings both at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka due to schedule disorder of return hajj flights and other mismanagement.
They are facing much more difficulties while returning home then at the time of going to Saudi Arabia, according to returnee hajis on Friday.
Many hajis said they are returning home amid bitter experience after witnessing two mishaps — crane collapse in Makkah and Mina stampede — while performing Hajj this year. Even on arrival in Dhaka, they have to leave the airport without luggage, they said.
Several hundreds pilgrims were killed and many others injured during the Mina stampede and the crane accident in Makkah.
“Actually, the Bangladeshi hajis have to face immense troubles from Jeddah to Dhaka,” Haji Bazlur Rahman of Noakhali said on return from Jeddah on Friday.
It is alleged that the convoy of Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud played key role in the Mina stampede. Pilgrims and Muslims have blamed Saudi Arabia’s incompetence for the cause of the stampede.
Meanwhile, the lack of coordination among the Hajj office, Foreign Ministry and
the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia are blamed for the sufferings of Hajj pilgrims and about the Bangladeshis killed in the stampede. Many alleged that Bangladesh is not playing proper role about victims of the incident.
The flights are reportedly delayed in taking off from Jeddah and also in arriving in Dhaka for long hours due to disruption of return flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. A number of flights are taking off from Saudi Arabia even 20 to 24 hours late. There is no supply of water and no place to take rest although the flights are taking off late, alleged the returnee hajis.
The first return Hajj flight arrived in Dhaka on Monday nearly 12 hours behind its schedule time putting the pilgrims in extreme suffering. The BG 4018 flight was scheduled to leave Jeddah airport at 12:50 pm on Wednesday but it left the airport after 5:00pm on Thursday. Some passengers of the flight said that they spent more than a day without food in intolerable heat. They complained to the authorities concerned but to no avail.
Bazlur Rashid of Noakhali said the women were the worst sufferers. “The Hajj pilgrims of other countries take rest at the terminal. But we could not manage a place there,” he said.
About Hajj stampede, he blamed the Saudi Arabia’s incompetence for the incident. He is also annoyed with Bangladesh government for its role in this regard.
Solaiman Ahmed, a Hajj pilgrim of Sylhet who returned on Thursday, said that their flight was delayed by 12 hours due to poor management. He saw that that after arrival in Dhaka airport, some passengers were not getting their luggage deposited in Jeddah, he added.
Many hajis said they realise that their luggage and handbag are missing when they prepare to leave the airport. Some of them said that the missing incidents happen due to the mismanagement of the authorities.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has blamed mismanagement at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia for the sufferings of the hajis. The officials of the Biman also blamed the Muallems (attendants) for the sufferings, saying that the Muallems failed to bring the pilgrims in the airport in time.
Tasnim Akhter, Public Relations Officer of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said that the Hajj flights delay due to failure of pilgrims to report at the airport on time which she termed a regular phenomenon.
“The Jeddah authorities take more time to check our passengers every year. They took even more time this year after the crane mishap and Mina tragedy,” she said, adding that the Jeddah authorities also delay in luggage loading.
Earlier, the Hajj pilgrims had to leave Dhaka for Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj with anxiety and uncertainty. Many pilgrims had to wait in the Ashkona Hajj Camp for several days for Hajj flight due to disruption of Hajj flight.
“I faced a lot of sufferings during leaving the country. I had to stay at the Ashkona Hajj Camp for several days. I faced more suffering during return journey,” said a Hajj pilgrim.
Meanwhile, some relatives of the hajis said that they had to wait at Shahjalal International Airport for hours with patience to receive their respective hajis.
A person said that his relative Mizanur Rahman from Rangpur reached Jeddah airport three hours before the return Hajj flight from Jeddah to Dhaka scheduled for 7:00 am on Tuesday. But the return Hajj flight of Bangladesh Biman did not take off even after 10 and a half hours of the scheduled time. The flight was scheduled to leave Saudi Arabia at 7:10 am on Tuesday. It arrived in Dhaka at 2:30pm on Wednesday. Mizan and some passengers of the flight returned home empty handed, as they did not get their luggage.
A Hajj pilgrim on Friday said that he reached Dhaka Airport in the morning, but did not receive his luggage even after 13 hours. It appeared to him that he was detained at the airport. “It appeared that it was nobody’s duty to look after the Hajj pilgrims during their journey to Saudi Arabia and return to Bangladesh,” he said.
Aminul Islam of Jhenaidah said that the suffering is no less than the horrifying experience of going through the crane accident or Mina stampede.
This time the problem was accentuated by special circumstances following the stampede and the crane incidents that left several hundreds pilgrims killed and injured many others during the Hajj. The incidents left many pilgrims in trauma. Experiencing the mishap, the Bangladeshi pilgrims on their return recounted how they suffered in Jeddah airport.
Over one lakh pilgrims went to Makkah to perform the holy Hajj this year. Half of them are being carried by Biman flights and the other half by Saudi Arabian Airlines in line with a deal inked between the governments of the two countries. Biman will operate return flights until October 28 to bring the pilgrims back.
The Bangladeshi Hajis are reportedly undergoing untold sufferings both at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka due to schedule disorder of return hajj flights and other mismanagement.
They are facing much more difficulties while returning home then at the time of going to Saudi Arabia, according to returnee hajis on Friday.
Many hajis said they are returning home amid bitter experience after witnessing two mishaps — crane collapse in Makkah and Mina stampede — while performing Hajj this year. Even on arrival in Dhaka, they have to leave the airport without luggage, they said.
Several hundreds pilgrims were killed and many others injured during the Mina stampede and the crane accident in Makkah.
“Actually, the Bangladeshi hajis have to face immense troubles from Jeddah to Dhaka,” Haji Bazlur Rahman of Noakhali said on return from Jeddah on Friday.
It is alleged that the convoy of Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud played key role in the Mina stampede. Pilgrims and Muslims have blamed Saudi Arabia’s incompetence for the cause of the stampede.
Meanwhile, the lack of coordination among the Hajj office, Foreign Ministry and
the Bangladesh Embassy in Saudi Arabia are blamed for the sufferings of Hajj pilgrims and about the Bangladeshis killed in the stampede. Many alleged that Bangladesh is not playing proper role about victims of the incident.
The flights are reportedly delayed in taking off from Jeddah and also in arriving in Dhaka for long hours due to disruption of return flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. A number of flights are taking off from Saudi Arabia even 20 to 24 hours late. There is no supply of water and no place to take rest although the flights are taking off late, alleged the returnee hajis.
The first return Hajj flight arrived in Dhaka on Monday nearly 12 hours behind its schedule time putting the pilgrims in extreme suffering. The BG 4018 flight was scheduled to leave Jeddah airport at 12:50 pm on Wednesday but it left the airport after 5:00pm on Thursday. Some passengers of the flight said that they spent more than a day without food in intolerable heat. They complained to the authorities concerned but to no avail.
Bazlur Rashid of Noakhali said the women were the worst sufferers. “The Hajj pilgrims of other countries take rest at the terminal. But we could not manage a place there,” he said.
About Hajj stampede, he blamed the Saudi Arabia’s incompetence for the incident. He is also annoyed with Bangladesh government for its role in this regard.
Solaiman Ahmed, a Hajj pilgrim of Sylhet who returned on Thursday, said that their flight was delayed by 12 hours due to poor management. He saw that that after arrival in Dhaka airport, some passengers were not getting their luggage deposited in Jeddah, he added.
Many hajis said they realise that their luggage and handbag are missing when they prepare to leave the airport. Some of them said that the missing incidents happen due to the mismanagement of the authorities.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines has blamed mismanagement at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia for the sufferings of the hajis. The officials of the Biman also blamed the Muallems (attendants) for the sufferings, saying that the Muallems failed to bring the pilgrims in the airport in time.
Tasnim Akhter, Public Relations Officer of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, said that the Hajj flights delay due to failure of pilgrims to report at the airport on time which she termed a regular phenomenon.
“The Jeddah authorities take more time to check our passengers every year. They took even more time this year after the crane mishap and Mina tragedy,” she said, adding that the Jeddah authorities also delay in luggage loading.
Earlier, the Hajj pilgrims had to leave Dhaka for Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj with anxiety and uncertainty. Many pilgrims had to wait in the Ashkona Hajj Camp for several days for Hajj flight due to disruption of Hajj flight.
“I faced a lot of sufferings during leaving the country. I had to stay at the Ashkona Hajj Camp for several days. I faced more suffering during return journey,” said a Hajj pilgrim.
Meanwhile, some relatives of the hajis said that they had to wait at Shahjalal International Airport for hours with patience to receive their respective hajis.
A person said that his relative Mizanur Rahman from Rangpur reached Jeddah airport three hours before the return Hajj flight from Jeddah to Dhaka scheduled for 7:00 am on Tuesday. But the return Hajj flight of Bangladesh Biman did not take off even after 10 and a half hours of the scheduled time. The flight was scheduled to leave Saudi Arabia at 7:10 am on Tuesday. It arrived in Dhaka at 2:30pm on Wednesday. Mizan and some passengers of the flight returned home empty handed, as they did not get their luggage.
A Hajj pilgrim on Friday said that he reached Dhaka Airport in the morning, but did not receive his luggage even after 13 hours. It appeared to him that he was detained at the airport. “It appeared that it was nobody’s duty to look after the Hajj pilgrims during their journey to Saudi Arabia and return to Bangladesh,” he said.
Aminul Islam of Jhenaidah said that the suffering is no less than the horrifying experience of going through the crane accident or Mina stampede.
This time the problem was accentuated by special circumstances following the stampede and the crane incidents that left several hundreds pilgrims killed and injured many others during the Hajj. The incidents left many pilgrims in trauma. Experiencing the mishap, the Bangladeshi pilgrims on their return recounted how they suffered in Jeddah airport.
Over one lakh pilgrims went to Makkah to perform the holy Hajj this year. Half of them are being carried by Biman flights and the other half by Saudi Arabian Airlines in line with a deal inked between the governments of the two countries. Biman will operate return flights until October 28 to bring the pilgrims back.
