Umrah pilgrimage during Ramzan cancelled for Bengalureans

The growing tensions in West Asia have brought the Islamic pilgrimage, Umrah, to a standstill for Bengalureans.

Saudi Arabia remains among the most-impacted sectors with most flights to West Asia cancelled at the Kempegowda International Airport. There are no flights to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam also.

On Tuesday, two drones hit the US Embassy in the capital city of Riyadh, further tightening the airspace restrictions.

Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage to Makkah, the holiest city for Muslims, which can be undertaken at any time of the year, but is favoured by many during the holy month of Ramzan.

On Tuesday afternoon, a group of about 40 pilgrims, comprising both Bengaluru and Mysuru residents, arrived at a sparsely populated Terminal 2 of the Kempegowda International Airport, determined to start their journey to Makkah. The group, originally meant to depart on March 1, had to postpone their flight to March 4, due to airspace restrictions.

“We’ve managed to find an early morning flight to Jeddah from Mangaluru on March 4. So we’ll be taking a flight to Mangaluru later today. We’re all looking forward to celebrating Eid there,” said Rahmatuallah, 53, only to find out an hour later that the flight from Mangaluru to Jeddah had also been cancelled.

“It’s supposed to be extremely rewarding to fulfil this pilgrimage during the month of Ramzan, which is why we are all so keen on it. Hopefully, the situation gets better, and we’re able to travel to Makkah before Ramzan ends,” he added. Each pilgrim in the group had paid Rs 1.5 lakh for a 22-day trip to the cities of Makkah and Madinah.

While the pilgrimage often costs approximately Rs one lakh per person, travel agents tend to hike up the prices during Ramzan, bringing the price up to around Rs 1.5 to 1.7 lakh for a 15-20 day trip.

While some travel agents are hopeful that the airspace restrictions will be eased by the weekend, others have postponed all bookings by at least three months.

“This month, I had 180 Umrah bookings, and I have temporarily cancelled all of them. Given the current situation, we don’t want to take any risks. Even though some customers are adamant about going this month, we are strictly against it. Instead, we plan to resume travel only after Bakrid in June. By then, the situation would’ve cooled down,” said Hafiz Mohammed Samiullah, a travel agent.

Stranded pilgrims

Samiullah also shared that he currently had 280 pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, unable to return to Bengaluru. “They were all set to return between March 1 and 7, but their flights have been cancelled. Thankfully, our partners in Saudi Arabia are providing them with hotel rooms and food. The businesses there have not jacked up the prices,” he added.

Syed Tabrez, another local travel agent, is also trying to arrange return flights for 250 pilgrims currently stranded in Jeddah. “There are people of all ages in that group, from toddlers to senior citizens. We have arranged accommodation for them, but news of the war is making people anxious,” he said.