Hundreds from Lucknow still stuck in Iran, relatives appeal to Modi govt to bring them back

Lucknow: As the Israelis jets continue to pound Iran, hundreds of Shia Muslims from Lucknow , who were visiting Iran for ‘ziyarat’ (pilgrimage), were stuck up in the war torn country following cancellation of their flights and were now waiting to be rescued by the Indian officials through some other route.

Qamar Imam, a resident of the city, whose family members had left for Iran on May 27 for ‘ziyarat’ and were scheduled to return on June 21, said that their flight had been cancelled.

Nawab Iqbal, another resident, whose family members were currently in Mashhad town, a famous Shia pilgrimage, appealed to the government to bring them back to the country.

According to the sources, over one thousand pilgrims from the city were currently in Iran on pilgrimage. They visit Shia religious places in the country. Iran is home to several famous Shia Muslim religious places like the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Shah Cheragh shrine in Shiraz, Fatima Masumeh shrine in Qom and the Jamkaran Mosque near Qom.

Sources said that around 350 others, who studied in Iran, were also trapped there.

Irfan Hussain, who owns a local travel agency, which sends the pilgrims to Iran, said that the internet connectivity was poor and as a result the relatives here are finding it difficult to communicate with those trapped in Iran.

Aqueel Zafar Rizvi, the manager of another local travel agency here, also said that a group of 18 people, including 12 women, was trapped in Iran. They were scheduled to return on June 18 but now they were trapped in Qom city.

Syed Mohammed Ali Kazmi, a resident of Golaganj locality in the city, who was on a visit to Iran with his family, told his relatives on phone that they were staying at a hotel in Mashhad town after completing their ‘ziyarat’ but their flight on June 21 was cancelled.

He said that he had received calls from the Indian embassy in Tehran and was told that arrangements were being made to bring them back to India.

Arif Abdi, whose family members were also in Iran on a pilgrimage, said that the local people were taking good care of the pilgrims, which was a tradition. Abdi said that the Shia Muslims were emotionally attached to the religious places in Iran.