• Emotional scenes witnessed at Haj House,Bemina
• Div Com Kashmir, IGP Kashmir, DC Budgam reviews departure arrangements
• HCI member AijazHussain congratulated pilgrims going to perform Hajj
Srinagar, May 09: Divisional Commissioner (Div Com), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Biduri along with IGP Kashmir, V K Birdi Thursday flagged off the first batch of 642 Hajj pilgrims of Jammu Kashmir from Srinagar International Airport to Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj 2024 pilgrimage.
Divisional Commissioner,Bidhuri also interacted with the pilgrims and conveyed his greetings and best wishes to them. “I prayed for the successful pilgrimage of the blessed pilgrims who are embarking upon the sacred journey for performing the Hajj,” he said.
Div Com also prayed for peace and prosperity for Jammu Kashmir and well-being of its people.
While emotional scenes were seen at the Haj House Bemina where relatives of pilgrims were seen hugging each other reciting “Allah-ho-Akbar” (God is the greatest) before boarding the buses.
The pilgrims said that they will pray for peace and prosperity during their pilgrimage. They also expressed their gratitude for the arrangements made at Bemina Haj house and Srinagar airport.
The RTC Buses beelined Hajj house to take pilgrims to Srinagar International Airport, with scores of family members seeing off their relatives in the early morning of Thursday.
While flagging off the buses from Bemina Haj House, Member Haj Committee of India, AijazHussain congratulated all the pilgrims going to perform Hajj.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, he said that 642 pilgrims are going from J&K today in two flights. All the facilities have been taken care of. As many as 37 women without mahram are going for Haj this time. A total of around 7,000 pilgrims will be going to perform Haj this year from J&K, he said.
Deputy Commissioner,Budgam, AkshayLabroo; SSP Budgam, NikhalBorkar; Director International Airport and other concerned officers were also present. On the occasion, Div Com interacted with the pilgrims and conveyed his greetings and best wishes to them.
During the visit, the Div Com also took first-hand appraisal of facilities including availability of clean drinking water, medical facilities, refreshment, volunteer services and traffic management in and outside of airport premises besides immigration check facilities and baggage carrying facilities.
He directed concerned authorities to ensure hassle free departure of all the pilgrims till the conclusion of departure schedule.
According to officials, a total of 7008 Hajj pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir will be embarking on the holy journey to Mecca and Medina this year.
Executive Officer, J&K Hajj Committee, ShujhatQureshi told Rising Kashmir that that all arrangements are in place to make the Hajj pilgrimages for pilgrims to make their journey hassle-free.
He stated that out of the total 7008 pilgrims from J&K, around 6800 are going from Srinagar airport and remaining through the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
Qureshi said that over 6852 pilgrims are embarking from Srinagar, inclusive of those from Ladakh, while 541 pilgrims will depart from other airports, primarily Delhi airport.
He said special arrangements have been made to facilitate the pilgrimage for 37 women pilgrims who will be undertaking the sacred journey without Mahram.
This year’s pilgrimage will commence with a visit to Medina, with all pilgrims accommodated in Markaziya.
“Enhancements have been made in Minha, with tents now strategically positioned in zones 2, 3, and 4, elevating the overall experience for the pilgrims,” he said.
Haleem Begum, a local pilgrim from Baramulla told Rising Kashmir that it was her luck that she got an opportunity to perform Hajj without Mahram.
“My husband died in 2017 and for the past 7 years, I had a wish to perform Hajj. This year I got an opportunity,” she said.
Mushtaq Ahmad, another pilgrim from Pampore said they were satisfied with all arrangements made by the local administration at Hajj House. We will pray for peace and prosperity of Kashmir, he said.
Last year, a total of 12,067 pilgrims, including 6,698 men and 5,369 women, performed Hajj. 111 women without Mahram also performed the Hajj pilgrimage.
