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Journey to Mount Arafat

Dubai: Some 1,50,000 Indians were among the nearly three million persons who started their journey to the Mount Arafat on Tuesday as part of the annual Haj pilgrimage now under way in Saudi Arabia.

All the Indian pilgrims arrived in Mina, 5 km east of the holy city of Makkah, and have started moving further south to Arafat summit.

The Haj climaxes in Id which is celebrated in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries on Wednesday.

India’s Consul-General to Jeddah Ausaf Sayeed told PTI over phone from Mina that on the “first two days of the pilgrimage, everything has gone off very well.” All the necessary arrangements have been made by the Consulate-General in Mina and Arafat for Indian pilgrims.

Indian Haj Mission has setup its camp office in Mina to provide necessary facilities, including medical assistance.

“The Saudi authorities have made elaborate preparations to ensure an incident-free Haj. The Jamarat Bridge has been raised by another level and the pilgrims of all countries, including those from India, would be taken for Rami [stone-throwing ritual] at designated times”.

Leader of the Indian Haj delegation A.R. Antulay, Minister for Minority Welfare, Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia MOH Farook and Chairman of the Haj Committee of India Iqbal Ahmad Saradgi had already reached Mina. — PTI

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