Srinagar: Two days after over 800 pilgrims were subjected to ordeal with first two Hajj flights returned to New Delhi, National Conference on Saturday lashed out at the Chief Minister and the State government over the mismanagement.
“Hajis continued to suffer unprecedented inconvenience despite the Chief Minister’s meeting over this grave issue,” National conference’s Chief Spokesperson Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi said and demanded that the ensuing mess be resolved within 24 hours and no further inconvenience be caused to the returning pilgrims.
“The arrangements made by the state government are terrible and shocking and the mismanagement of the Haj flights was evident on the very first day when the first batch of returning Hajis could not arrive in Srinagar as the flights were cancelled and re-scheduled for absolutely no reasonable justification.”
The protests by the families of the pilgrims at the Srinagar International Airport, he said, highlighted the government’s insensitivity towards the Hajis and their families.
He said the ‘unprecedented’ absence of the Chief Minister in receiving the first batch of Hajis was extremely “condemnable and demonstrated her lack of empathy and sense of responsibility as the Head of the State Government.”
“It appears the Chief Minister chose not to go to the airport to receive the first batch of Hajis due to the mismanagement by her Government. Rather than going to the Airport and taking responsibility and personally resolving the issue, she chose to stay away in an act of sheer disrespect towards the sentiments of the families and the returning Hajis,” he said, adding, “While the Chief Minister conducted a photo-op meeting allegedly held to review the mismanagement and resolve the issue, the cancellation of the Haj flight for the second consecutive day proves that the Chief Minister is not taken seriously by the Administration.”
Due to the “mismanagement and insensitivity”, he said, the pilgrims had to spend the night at the Delhi Airport and hundreds of families that had come to receive them from far-off places were stranded in Srinagar without any arrangements at all.
“The Government rather than reaching out, accepting its failure and being at the disposal of the Hajis and the families decided to withdraw and hide providing no answers on the issue. This is shameful,” he said, adding, “The Chief Minister is personally responsible and should take immediate, concrete measures to ensure this issue is resolved and no further inconvenience is caused to the returning Hajis or their families.”
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