[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="36132,36131,36130"] Hassan Cheruppa Saudi Gazette A top-level Haj delegation from India and senior officials of the Tawafa Organization for South Asia (TOSA) have reviewed the progress in finding long term accommodation for Indian pilgrims in Makkah. Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, former Union Minister of India and chairman of the Long Term Accommodation Committee (LTAC), and Rafat Badr, chairman of TOSA, led the two sides in the talks. They also attended a function organized by the Indian Haj Mission in Jeddah Thursday evening to honor heads of five maktabs (pilgrim service offices), which offered outstanding services for the Indian pilgrims. The TOSA takes care of the largest contingent of foreign pilgrims who come for Haj from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The function, hosted by Indian Consul General B.S. Mubarak, was also attended by Deputy Consul General and Haj Consul Shahid Alam, Qaiser Shamim, chairman of the Central Haj Committee of India (CHCI), Abdul Rasheed Ansari, and Haris Beeran, members of LTAC, Attaur Rahman, CEO of CHCI, Zaki Hariri, vice chairman of TOSA, and Omar Siraj Akbar, officer in charge of Indian Haj pilgrims at TOSA. Hussain gave away mementos to the honorees, who included Mamdooh Muhammad Amin Mahboob (head of maktab 27), Naif Najib Abdul Hamid Khan (maktab 45), Zohair Ibrahim Muhammad Hussein (maktab 24), Saeed Muhammad Saleh Muhammad Hussein (maktab 44), and Abdul Moqtadir Iskandar (maktab 45). He also presented gifts from the Haj mission to Badr, Hariri and Akbar. Speaking on the occasion, Hussain thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman and the government of Saudi Arabia for the excellent services and facilities being extended to the guests of God. "In the past 16 years, I have seen significant improvement in the services being extended to pilgrims from India, which hosts the second largest Muslim community in the world. Bilateral relations between India and the Kingdom are excellent and they have improved tremendously after King Salman's ascension to the throne as well as after Salman's visit to India as crown prince," he said while hoping that the forthcoming visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Kingdom would be instrumental in taking the strategic partnership to further heights. Hussain expressed happiness over the progress being made in finding long-term accommodation for the Indian pilgrims. "Most of the Indian pilgrims do not know Arabic and hence it would be ideal to accommodate them in a single area where all services are available. The government of India has formed the LTAC with this in mind and we are thanking the government of King Salman for his keenness to provide the best ever services and facilities for our pilgrims." He thanked the TESO for their excellent services to the Indian pilgrims, as well as to realize the goal of long-term accommodation. In his speech, Mubarak recalled that the annual event of honoring the maktab chiefs was held in the presence of their partners and stakeholders from India. "The attachment between mutawwifs or muallims with Indian pilgrims is very strong, and many of the mutawwifs have family bonds with Indians. The services of muallims have been improved drastically especially after the formation of the umbrella organization TOSA." Mubarak also explained the criteria for picking the best among the muallims who rendered excellent services for the Indian pilgrims during the last Haj season. "We have chosen five muallims from among dozens of others, considering the top quality of services extended by them at the time of the pilgrims' arrival in the holy land until their departure. The criteria for the award included how the pilgrims were received and how their baggage was taken to their accommodation, in addition to their transportation to Mina, Arafat, and Muzdalifah, and the services and facilities offered at their accommodation," he said, adding that officials who are handling pilgrims' affairs have made the selection of the winners after taking into consideration all these aspects. "Over the past several years, in my capacity as Haj consul and consul general, I have seen that the muallims are extremely cooperative and sincere in serving the pilgrims and the selection of the five for the award does not belittle the very good services extended by other muallims," Mubarak added. Thanking the Indian mission for this commendable gesture, Badr said his organization, which is honored to serve the pilgrims from the Indian subcontinent, is keen to further improve the services year after year. "We discussed with the Indian officials ways of further improving the services, and we are set to hold talks with the Indian Haj delegation about the new services, facilities and arrangements to be introduced for the pilgrims, especially in light of the anticipated high temperatures in the coming Haj season." While thanking the Indian Haj Mission for honoring five of the maktab chiefs for their outstanding services, Badr wished every success for the outgoing Consul General Mubarak and his successor Muhammad Noor Rahman Sheikh. Abdul Muqeet, interpreter at the Indian consulate general, was the master of ceremony.
