Saudi visa rule leaves Umrah pilgrims in lurch

MUMBAI: The Saudi Arabian government's new circular announcing reduction in the duration of Umrah (mini-Haj) visa from a month to 15 days has caused a lot of distress among pilgrims. Of the more than two lakh Indian pilgrims, who perform Umrah in a year, around 50,000 perform it in Ramzan (July 9-August 9 this year). Several pilgrims had plans to spend the entire Ramzan month between the two cities of Mecca and Medina and booked accommodation and air tickets accordingly. "The new circular has sent my plan haywire as I have to cancel tickets and accommodation bookings in Mecca and Medina. The business class Mumbai-Jeddah return tickets that I bought six months ago for Rs 32,000 have now shot up to Rs 47,000 plus the Rs 3,000 cancellation charge. The hotels in Mecca and Medina are saying that they can refund only if I rebook against the cancellations. This is a big jolt to all the pilgrims," said city-based businessman Iqbal Memon "Officer", who has been performing Umrah during Ramzan for the last 15 years. Unlike Haj, which is performed just once a year, Umrah can be performed anytime in the year. Ramzan sees a rush of Umrah performers because of a belief that if performed during Ramzan, it brings more blessings. Saudi authorities have told tour operators that Umrah visa during Ramzan and a month after that will be issued only for 15 days as expansion work is underway at the mosque in Mecca and the authorities don't want huge crowd during Ramzan. Though Umrah is performed only in Mecca, pilgrims also travel to Medina to visit the Prophet's mausoleum there. "The circular should have been issued six months ago, tour operators and pilgrims would have been saved of the difficulties that they are facing now," said Haj-Umrah tour operator Ibrahim Kolsawala. He added that the demand to keep the validity of Umrah visa for a month is genuine. Source: TOI