HVK Archives: Secular India should not subsidies Haj
Secular India should not subsidies Haj - The Observer
TV Rajeshwar
()
15 May 1997
Title : Secular India should not subsidies Haj
Author : TV Rajeshwar
Publication : The Observer
Date : May 15 1997
Over 300 Indian pilgrims to the Haj perished in the devastating fire at Mina on
April 15, 1997. The Indian pilgrims accounted for the maximum number of
casualties. When a large number of pilgrims assemble, such accidents can not be
totally averted. But this does not absolve the authorities of the responsibility.
We need not go into the details, but there are certain facts which have to be
taken into account.
The Haj pilgrims had met with serious accidents in the past too: In 1990 a
stampede in a tunnel resulted in the death of over 1400 persons and a similar
stampede in 1994 claimed about 300 lives.
India's Consul General in Jeddah, Afzal Amanullah had said that gates to the camps
in which the Hajis were lodged had been locked and if they had been opened in time
many of them would have been saved.
But the Saudi guards did not do so. If Amanullah's statement was premature the
reaction of Delhi was peremptory. The government did not have to so prominently
disassociate itself from the statement of its consul general.
And apparently Amanullah knew what he was talking about. It has been subsequently
confirmed that some of the gates were indeed closed and that the mistake was on
the part of some junior wards who were placed in charge of the camps. However,
this does not take away the responsibility of the Saudi government nor alter the
basic fact Amanullah referred to.
The four-member fact finding committee returned in the first week of May and
presented its report to the government. While the details are not known, press
reports indicate that the team has absolved the Saudi government of any
responsibility or lapses. The committee has reportedly listed the various steps
and measures to be taken in future for improving the comfort of Hajis as well as
their security.
The team met Major General Saad-Al-Twaijer, a senior Saudi Arabian civil official
who reportedly claimed that the record of Saudi Arabian fire fighting forces was
much better than many other countries. He went on to make a reference to the fire
tragedy which took place in Orissa resulting in several deaths. This seems to be
an ill conceived attempt to tell the committee that India is not better in
tackling such situations.
The reference by the official was to the Baripada fire disaster on February 23 in
Orissa resulting in the death of about 200 persons.
The Saudi official reportedly added that Saudi authorities had dealt with large
gatherings and had controlled the situation in good time. In effect, it meant
that they had done their best and if some accident still took place, it was just
unfortunate.
Purely from the crisis control and civil defence point of view, any experienced
official could suggest a hundred improvements whereby the repetition of a tragedy
could be avoided. Hopefully, they would be obvious for the Saudi authorities as
well. With all their oil wealth and the money brought in by nearly two million
Haj pilgrims, there could be a semi-permanent camp built with fire proof material
and with quick-get-away gates.
Fire tenders, water hydrants and. sprinklers and tankers have to be positioned
throughout the camping area.
More than anything else, cooking should be totally banned, and it is possible to
organise centralised feeding arrangements for various nationalities after
collecting necessary money.
Having said all this there are a few reflections out of the whole affair. India
is a secular country. It has no official religion, but permits its people to
practice as well as propagate their own religion. This does not, however, mean
that the government should subsidise the pilgrims to enable them to undertake
pilgrimage in ever increasing numbers.
The subsidies extended to the pilgrimage by way of reduced plane fare and in other
forms are impermissible in a secular country. The finance minister had provided a
sum of Rs 42 crore as subsidy in the budget.
The civil aviation ministry came up with a bill of Rs 93 crore for the Haj
operations.
This works out to a subsidy of about Rs 12,000 per pilgrim and the total expenses
are more than double of what had been provided by the finance minister.
The damage to Air India is far more serious. Out of a fleet of 28 aircraft, Air
India had to divert five of them for eight weeks for the Haj operations.
This diversion would last until May 23, 1997, well into the peak summer season.
This resulted in cancellation of about ten flights in a week to Europe and Canada.
Air India's reputation has been going down the hill for years and the past three
to four years had been particularly bad. No airline which takes away aircraft
from crucial sectors for a period of two to three months and that too during the
peak season could hope to retrieve tis clientele.
In the dog-eat-dog race for air traffic, Air India would turn to be a consistent
loser. Reports indicate that many tour operators from Europe have protested
against the frequent reschedules and that such acts would wipe off Air India's
business and cut off the flow of tourists to India.
This year over eighty thousand Haj pilgrims went from India which is the highest
number so far. A Maulvi who undertook the Haj from Kerala, Abdul Ghaffar, Imam of
Palayam has suggested proper regulation of Haj traffic from India by fixing
quotas, and this suggestion is worth serious consideration.
Why should Government of India go out of the way to promote this pilgrim traffic
with promised subsidy and diversion of aircraft by Air India? Any one who had
visited the international airport lounges at Delhi or Mumbai during these days
would have noticed how the terminals were swamped by the Haj pilgrim traffic.
Such crowding inconvenienced the normal international passenger traffic.
Let the government find out what facilities are extended to Haj pilgrims by
countries, which are not officially proclaimed as Islamic, to their citizen? Are
there any subsidies extended from official coffers? How is the traffic handled by
way of arranging air or shipping transport? There are so many related aspects
which could be ascertained before formalising a sensible and secular programme for
handling Haj traffic in future from India. But is the government interested?
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