PESHAWAR: Pilgrims regularly visiting the holy places for Haj have demanded of the Saudi government to expand the Mina corridor for safe passage of the faithful to avoid incidents like the Mina tragedy which claimed the lives of hundreds of Muslims including Pakistanis.

Talking to media persons here on Wednesday, Mufti Raeesur Rahman, Haji Osman, Mukhtiar Ahmad and Abdullah, who are associated with the Al-Jamia Al-Islamic Al-Farooqia, Peshawar, urged the custodian of Haramain-Sharifain for revision of arrangements particularly at Mina to manage the ever-increasing crowd and minimise risk to the lives of pilgrims.

They said the lone Mina corridor through which hundreds of thousands of pilgrims passed in a packed manner, lacked capacity to provide passage to such a large number of people. They said on both sides of the corridor separated by iron bars were tents of the pilgrims, adding the flow of people could be streamlined if these tents were removed to make the passage wide open.

They explained that in normal circumstances, among Haj rituals the passage of pilgrims from Muzdalifah through Mina was a daunting task due to extraordinary procession of people who suffered from perspiration, thirst and suffocation resulting in stampedes as every pilgrim was in a rush to cross the limited space as soon as possible.

“The walking distance of minutes through Mina route up to Al-Khaif Mosque consumes more than four hours because of the great rush of people,” they said.

The ulema suggested that for droves of people to pass smoothly through the corridor it was imperative to create space for multiple entries for pilgrims. They pointed out that owing to the cycle of the Islamic calendar, the month of Haj (Zil Haj) was further progressing towards intense summer and in coming years the task of crossing Mina towards Jamarat could aggravate the situation if preventative measures were not taken ahead of the pilgrimage.

They asked the custodian of the Haramain-Sharifain to establish more outlets through Mina into Jamarat ground to ensure safety of pilgrims during Haj.

Published in Dawn, October 15th , 2015

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