Haj pilgrims airlifted as snow blocks roads

          Srinagar: Haj pilgrims from Gurez and Telial sectors of Jammu and Kashmir were airlifted by the army as the roads were cut off due to heavy snowfall. The pilgrims, who had returned from Jeddah after performing Haj, were "thankful to the Army that we are being flown to our villages. We are around 10-15 people." The state government had closed the road link to the Gurez and Telial sectors last month. Abdul Rashid, son of another pilgrim, said: "It was very difficult for us to go to our village in Gurez and we would have had to wait till May here because after that month only the roads to Gurez will reopen." Haj is one of the five tenets of Islam and the Holy Quran directs the faithful to undertake it at least once in a lifetime. Army officials said it would continue to drop the pilgrims till the roads are opened. "There are around 20 people out here right now but as Haj pilgrims continue to come they will be dropped to their villges which are completely cut," Colonel Neeraj Bali, in charge of defence media center in Srinagar, said. Air India had transported nearly 9,000 Haj pilgrims to Mecca from Jammu and Kashmir. The government gives a travel subsidy of Rs. 20,000 for every pilgrim.
- Feb 26, 2004

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