Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (SP)

Mangalore, Dec 31: Even after about three weeks since the Haj pilgrims returned home, their luggage are yet to reach them. Over 400 pilgrims from the region are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their luggage, which not only contain their personal belongings, but also holy items which they revere from the depths of their hearts.

There are allegations that the tour organizers are not showing the level of enthusiasm they had initially shown, about getting these luggage back. Pilgrims claim that phone calls made to the organizers are not being answered. They do not know the present fate of their luggage, or where they are presently kept.

The pilgrims, on returning from the pilgrimage, normally meet their relatives and neighbours, to distribute the holy ‘Zam Zam’ water and dates they bring from Saudi Arabia.  However, the pilgrims who returned this time are frustrated, as they are unable to do this.  On December 19, the first batch of pilgrims who had arrived on December 7 had met here, and decided to submit memorandums to the state and central governments about their plight, through the district administration.

In the meanwhile, state Haj Committee president, Mohammed Ghouse Basha, said that all the luggage have reached Mumbai, and that the pilgrims will get their luggage within a couple of days. He said that the pilgrims from almost all the states in the country have been facing similar problem and it is not specific to Karnataka.