Safety should be the priority for such journeys, even if it means bringing down the number of pilgrims and rejecting those who have taken the trip before.
This is no time to apportion blame for the Haj tragedy, the biggest during the pilgrimage in 25 years. Countries should find ways to prevent such calamities fom happening again while considering bringing down the numbers they send annually for the journey. Those who have performed Haj once should be discouraged from going on the trip the second time.
More than 700 lives were lost during the world’s largest pilgrimage when 2 million converged in the holy city of Makkah for the major pilgrimage. The enormity of the tragedy appears to be lost on countries like Iran who are blaming Saudi Arabia for alleged mismanagement in the tent city of Mina from where pilgrims progress to Makkah for the stone-pelting ritual.
Saudi authorities have promised a swift probe into the stampede in which 717 people were crushed to death. Crowd safety specialists say the deaths could have occured because two groups of people were moving in opposite directions. This leads to a compression, then panic sets in among the throng. Many people die not because they are trampled to death but due to suffocation – while standing. They gasp for air and when they don’t find it in the choking crowd, they collapse and are trampled in the melee. Some officials, however, did not help matters when they chose to blame the surging crowds. Health Minister Khalid Al Falih said the deaths were “possibly caused by the movement of some pilgrims who didn’t follow the guidelines and instructions issued by the responsible authorities”.
Iran has been shooting its mouth off and said the Saudis were to blame for the crush which killed at least 131 of its citizens. There are also reports that two paths near the area used by pilgrims to reach the centre were blocked by the authorities.
Since the shocking tragedy in 1990 when 1,400 people died during the annual pilgrimage, the Saudi government has improved safety measures for Haj. It has upgraded infrastructure and put in place regulations for a safe journey to Islam’s holiest sites. More than $300 billion was spent from 1992 to improve facilities in the area.
The Jamarat Bridge was expanded; new walkways and ramps were built. Traditional tents were replaced with fibreglass structures. Thousands of stewards and troops were assigned to monitor crowds as part of the safety plan. This year alone, 100,000 troops were called to ensure security for the long journey.
So, who or what is to blame? Are the nunbers too much for the country to handle? Every able bodied Muslim is expected to undertake the pilgrimage at least once in his or her lifetime. There have been efforts to control the numbers flowing into Saudi Arabia with a Haj quota for countries.
Will drastically reducing the numbers help mitigate the risks? Saudi King Salman, who is also the Custodian of the Holy Mosques, has ordered a safety review and promised “to improve the level of organisation and management of movement” of pilgrims. Safety should be the priority for such journeys, even if it means bringing down the number of pilgrims and rejecting those who have taken the trip before.
Khalij Times Editorial
