SRINAGAR; No woman can undertake Haj pilgrimage without ‘Muharram’ as per guidelines issued by the Saudi Arabia government.

Meanwhile, the Central Haj Committee (CHC) has not yet approved Haj-Badal while no private tour operator (PTO) has been selected so far for organise the Haj pilgrimage, Executive Officer of State Haj Committee (SHC) Mushtaq Ahmad Lone said.

As per guidelines issued by the Saudi Arabia government no woman can undertake the Haj pilgrimage without Muharram, who also should be first timer.

About the accommodation at Makkah, the executive officer said there are two categories of accommodation in the Holy City – Green which is near the Harram Sharief and Azizia– which is seven to eight km from there.

He said because of new construction going on in Makkah, the number of accommodation there has decreased, with the result we have to accommodate pilgrims at Azizia.

Mr Lone said the state or central haj committees have nothing to do with providing accommodation at Makkah as it is being done by Consulate General of India there.

Mr Lone said no private tour operation (PTO) has yet been authorised by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to book pilgrims intending to undertake Haj-2014. He warned that nobody should deposit any amount with any PTO since the MEA has yet to authorise anybody to book any pilgrim.

After there were complaints of cheating of pilgrims by PTOs, the Supreme Court issued an order that only those PTOs who fulfill the cateria laid down by the court should be allowed to organise Haj pilgrimage.

Mr Lone said from Jammu and Kashmir five PTOs have been registered with MEA. However, last year only one PTO from the state was alloted 60 seats, he said adding this year the MEA has yet to take any decision about who will be authorised to organise Haj-2014 this year.

SRINAGAR; The Haj Committee of India has extended the last date for submission of Haj Application Forms for Haj 2014 to March 22. Earlier, the last date was March 15, a statement said.

Passport officer Srinagar Firdous Iqbal said that the Hajj Committee of India has accepted the request made by the state government and his office and extended the date for submission of application forms by a week.

“I had written to the state Hajj committee as well as copied to my own joint secretary besides forwarding the request to the Hajj Committee of India that due to unprecedented snowfall the department was facing multiple problems which necessitated an extension in last date for the submission of application forms from the intending Hajj applicants in the state,” said Firdous Iqbal, Passport officer Srinagar.

The passport officer Srinagar said that for the convenience of intending Hajj pilgrims one more week has been given for submission of Hajj Application Forms and those applicants whose Passport is not received may make efforts to obtain their passports.

KN DESK; The Haj -2013 has culminated successfully with the arrival of last Haj flight on November 6th, 2013 at Srinagar International Airport.

As many as 8691 pilgrims from J&K State performed Haj-2013 this year that commenced from September 7th to 23rd, 2013. The return phase of the Haj culminated in the equal number of days on November 6th, 2013 with the arrival of last Haj flight at Srinagar International Airport.

Out of 8691 pilgrims, 7 pilgrims passed away during the holy journey, of them one was buried in Madina Munawarah, 5 were buried in Makkah Mukaramah and one in Jeddah.

These include JKR-4641-2-0, Abdul Gaffar S/o Kamal Magrey R/o Kupwara Madinah, JKF-4747-4-0Bakhti Begum W/o Mohammad Shaban R/o Baramulla Makkah JKR-5417-4-0 Mukhti Bano W/o Mohammad Abdullah R/o Shopian Makkah JKF-9422-2-0 Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din S/o Ghulam Mohammad Wani R/o Budgam Makkah JKF-9925-2-0 Sabza Bibi W/o Mohammad Alam R/o Rajouri Makkah JKR-10100-2-0 Ghulam Ahmad S/o Abdul Ahad Dar R/o Pulwama Makkah and JKR-1277-2-0 Aisha W/o Assadullah R/o Pulwama Jeddah.

One lady pilgrim namely Mugli Begum W/o Abdul Salam registered under Cover No.JKR-4535-3-0 is under treatment in a Saudi hospital. The pilgrim and her husband shall return once she recovers fully and is fit to travel. All other pilgrims reached home safely.

The pilgrimage has been by and large smooth. With train facility in Mina, Arafat, the pilgrims could perform Arkan-e-Haj with ease and in time.

SRINAGAR; 09, Sep 2013: The 3rd batch of 550 Hajj pilgrims including 351 male, 199 female embarked from Srinagar International Airport in two flights for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. As many as 1650 Hajj pilgrims have left for Jeddah till date.
On the occasion, Director Airport Authority Srinagar, officers of District Administration Budgam and Executive Officer, State Hajj Committee, Srinagar were also present.

SRINAGAR; 08, Sep 2013: The 2nd batch of 550 Hajj pilgrims including 327 male, 222 female and one child embarked from Srinagar International Airport in two flights for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.
Minister of State for Health, Mr Shabir Ahmad Khan, Director Airport Authority, officers of District Administration Budgam and Executive Officer, State Hajj Committee, Srinagar were also present on the occasion.

The pilgrims had been directed to arrive at Haj House Bemina hours before their departure because of prevailing situation in Srinagar, where strike was observed against music mastro Zubin Mehta’s ‘ Ehsaas-E-Kashmir’concert in Shalimar Garden this evening.

The pilgrims were later taken to airport in State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) buses from the Haj house.

SRINAGAR; 06, Sep 2013: The first Haj flight is scheduled to operate from Srinagar on Saturday, September 7 till September 23 and corresponding return flights shall operate from October 20 to November 5. As many as two flights with a capacity of 275 pilgrims each shall operate daily directly from Srinagar airport to Madina Munawarah, an official spokesman said Thursday.

The Haj pilgrims have been advised to report early on September 7 at the Haj House at Bemina here. The reporting time for first flight of the pilgrims is 9 am and for second flight at 11 am, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Haj, Auqaf, Floriculture and Public Enterprises Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed Thursday visited Haj House Srinagar and took stock of the arrangements put in place for the pilgrimage.

“The Minister said that foolproof arrangements at the Haj House and en-route have been made for pilgrims to facilitate their smooth travel from various district and their stay at Srinagar,” the spokesman said in a handout.

Peerzada said that proper arrangements have also been made for smooth transfer of pilgrims from their place of stay to the Haj House and from there to the Airport. He said besides, other arrangements, some nationalized bank counters have also been set up for disbursement of foreign exchange. He said Rs 50 lakh have been earmarked for free vaccination of Haj pilgrims; moreover, the pilgrims have also been provided free SIM cards, he added.

The Minister said the issue of concession in fare for those who are going second time to perform Haj, has already been taken up with the Haj Committee of India, Civil Aviation and Ministry of External Affairs.  He said External Affairs Ministry has also allotted quota of 50 pilgrims to a private agency.
Peerzada expressed his gratitude to New Delhi for not curtailing the allotted quota of Haj pilgrims for the state.
The meeting also decided that Deputy Commissioners Shopian and Pulwama would ensure restrictions on movement of trollies and other load carriers plying on Mughal road during the period for the convenience of pilgrims from Poonch and Rajouri. The departments of PHE and PDD have been asked to ensure uninterrupted power and water supply during the said period.

Among others, Secretary Revenue, Vinod Koul; DIG Jatinder Singh; Chief Executive Officer, J&K State Haj Committee Fayaz Ahmad; Additional Deputy Commissioners, Srinagar and Budgam, G M Dar and G M Bhat; SSP, Srinagar Ashiq Bukhari, and representatives from PHE, PDD and other line departments attended the meeting.