Volunteers offer their services to elderly pilgrims during this year's Haj. (Courtesy photo)RIYADH: Exhaustion from walking for long hours and getting lost at the holy sites were the main complaints from pilgrims, according to volunteers who were on duty during this year's Haj. The elderly pilgrims suffered the most. Other pilgrims chose to walk between the holy sites, which was also tiring, they added. Aboobacker Kunju, head of a group of volunteers, said the Haj rituals, such as the stoning at Al-Jamarat and visiting the Ka'ba for circumambulation involved too much physical hardship for some pilgrims. The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) and other charity organizations contributed to the voluntary services to over two million pilgrims who came to Saudi Arabia from various parts of the world. The Indian Fraternity Forum (IFF) mobilized about 1,095 volunteers, mostly Indian nationals. Others from Africa and Arab countries were deployed at Mina to serve the pilgrims. Dressed in uniforms provided by WAMY, the volunteers were out in the field for 16 to 18 hours every day, said Kunju. Those pilgrims whose tents were located far away from Jamarat had to walk for quite a distance. “The identical routes in the tent city of Mina confused many pilgrims, so some of them lost their way when heading back to their tents,” he said. The area between Arafat, Muzdalifa and Mina is spread over 10 kilometers which most pilgrims tend to cover on foot, he said. “We have to understand that Haj is an obligation in Islam for those who can afford the cost of the journey and who are able-bodied,” said Kunju. However, he said a large number of pilgrims from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were elderly people, who were often exhausted and required volunteer services to help them reach their tents. Ashraf Mellatur, another Haj volunteer, told Saudi Gazette that separation from the group was another cause of concern for most of the pilgrims at the crowded ritual sites. He said those pilgrims who lost their way had to spend hours out in the open. “Our volunteers rescued a family of three, a deaf daughter, blind father and elderly mother who were separated during the stoning ritual at Jamarat,” he said. He said the basic purpose of volunteers was to serve the pilgrims. “No Haj volunteers present in Mina performed Haj,” he said. Moreover, the volunteers who traveled from Riyadh to Mina, paid for their own travel and food, he added.
