Functions of Bangladesh Hajj Mission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia needs to be carefully examined without any bias. My experience during the Hajj In March this year has left me convinced in this regard. To help improve the sendees of the Mission. 1 narrate below my experiences and also offer some suggestions.

Majority of the houses rented for Hajjees are not at all up to the mark compared to their rents. Rents are paid in advance by Hajjees three to four months before their arrival In Makkah. Yet the Mission fails to select good houses situated near the Masjldul Haram i.e. the Ka'ba Sharif Mosque. Toilets are small and not in hygienic condition. Missions of other countries select better houses for their citizens at the same cost as ours near Masjldul Haram. There is acute scarcity of drinking water as well as water for taking a shower. We. the residents of House No. 55. Mualllm 14, Da Khela Road, Makkah were about to miss our bath prior to entering into Ehram for Hajj. We somehow managed to take bath at other houses nearby and had to use toilets situated outside Masjldul Haram far from our house as there was no water from noon on the seventh day till the early morning of the eight day of the month of "Zul Hajja". In the evening and in the night. I personally lodged complaints about water al the Hajj Mission 4/5 times. This was indeed a bad experience.

The house we lived in had no kitchen, no gas, no gas burner, no utensils for preparing hot water or cooking. Hajjees become sick off andon. They need hot water for gurgle, bathing and preparing special diets. When Hajj missions of other countries successfully provide all these facilities, why do we fall? Massive corruption, lack of knowledge, poor administration. inefficient management are the reasons why. Mualllms' volunteers don't visit the house as it is not tfielr duty. The mission also falls to give proper Information and guidance In

time. In Madinah it was severe cold at night. Most of the Hajjees from Bangladesh visiting Madinah were without any warm clothes because the Mission failed to inform them of the climate properly either in Dhaka or in Makkah. More comfortable buses for Makkah-Madinah and vice versa with air conditioner and built-in toilet could have been arranged at the same cost. Sufferings knew no bounds.

Pilgrims should be informed about their total number in a bus so that they can do a head count to see If any body is missing. They should also be encouraged to stay in touch with each other when in Madinah. Otherwise it is very difficult to arrange the return bus to Makkah as bus needs to be filled to capacity. Such information is never given. In the absence of such information, many pilgrims are usually stranded in the Madinah Bus Terminal for a few days because they had left their rented house in time with the Idea that buses are easily available. Passports are kept with Mualllm's personnel in the Bus. Without checking passport, no bus ticket is issued. If seats in the bus is allocated according to the serial number of passports, it will reduce the rush at the time of boarding the bus. Hajjees need to be instructed to always remain with the group. To facilitate forming the group, a portable sign board bearing the name Bangladesh in Arabic and Bengali should be provided free of cost.

The Mission should rent one or two houses in Madinah to keep the luggage of the Hajjees temporarily and also to provide a temporary resting-place for them. Buses should go there straight to pick up passengers. This should give ample time and opportunity to Hajjees to look for and finally select a suitable house without having to rely on the middleman After selection of the house, the bus could carry all of them to the rented house. In Makkah. the

Mission can also hire one or two such houses for non-Bal-lotte pilgrims so that leaving their luggage there temporarily, they can get ample time to look for a suitable house without any intervention from the middleman.

Bangladesh Biman or the chartered Southern China Airlines had scarcity of water. No announcement was made about the important cities that we crossed during the flight. En route to Jeddah, the Ehram point was "Eialmalam Mountain" and no announcement was made about it. as we went past the mountain.

Umbrellas presented to pilgrims by Biman were so useless that they broke after a few days' use. Foldable umbrellas with strong, smooth stand, screw, hook etc. is useful and easy to carry around specially during the performance of circumam-bulation which consists of seven rounds around the holy 'Ka bah' in Makkah and would be very useful also at Arafat, Mina. Its cover should be made of durable cloth. The outer surface should be white and the inner surface, green. It can then serve to cut the severe heat of the sun to avoid sun stroke. The name Bangladesh in Arabic and English should be Inscribed on It.

The Mission's service In Mina, Arafat and Muzdalefa need to be Intensified and improved. Insufficient number of volunteers with poor knowledge and training will not serve the purpose For identification of tents of pilgrims staying in Mina, a site map showing its location, nearby bus stands, vantage-points in Arabic and Bengali will undoubtedly help a great deal. Each pilgrim should possess a photocopy of the site map. Pilgrims usually waste considerable time and energy looking for their tents specially when they return from Arafat. Muzdalefah and from Makkah after performing the obligatory circumambu.lation and also after throwing pebbles at the three Jamrats in Mina.

Even Saudi volunteers don't know its location. Such site maps In Arabic and Bengali will help all to locate their tents. The rush becomes severe on the twelfth day of the month particularly in and around the area where the three Jamrats are located. The Mission should have a temporary camp there. On this day. the pilgrims usually become extremely tired, sometimes even fainting from extreme exhaustion. I found a unique and affordable ambulance service there owned by the Turkish Mission — a spacious long tempo-like vehicle with cover for protection from the sun. seating arrangements for about the to four persons and enough room for a sick pilgrim to lie down.

Bus services on the Makkah* Mina route on the 8th day and Mina-Muzdalefa-Arafat and vice-versa on the 9th and the 10th day of "Zul-Hajja” are very inadequate. Mualllms fail to !>rovide sufficient number of mses. To avoid the heavy rush and to take Hajjees to Arafat before Zohar prayers, more buses in cooperation with the Mission should be arranged by the Mualllm. Hajjees pay for transportation costs three to four months earlier. Many Missions of other countries arrange such bus services for their citizens to avoid the heavy rush.

The Mission's temporary office at Musafir Khana in Mina needs to be opened. More than Iwo lakh pilgrims from different countries stay here under sheds. Bangladeshi Hajjees mainly non-ballottees stay there. Medical facilities at Mina need to be enhanced. The Mission volunteer wears a banner in green with the Bangladesh map on the back but without the name Bangladesh. The name of Bangladesh in Arabic and. if possible, in English need to be mentioned on the banner. It will help Hajjees of other countries to provide information to the volunteer on any missing Bangladeshi Hajjee.

Medical facilities with sufficient and proper medicines

including essential ones, hot water bags, lotions for tonsils and other throat problems, dysentery, high fever, sun stroke, joint pain etc. should be bought from Bangladesh in plenty. Medicine in Saudi Arabia is very costly. The services need to be improved both in quality and quantity.

Hajjees from India. Pakistan get more then two thousand Rials for food, stay in Madinah, miscellaneous' expenses. whereas a Bangladeshi gets 1380 Rials. The total money deposited by an Indian or a Pakistani Hajjee is reported to be less than that of ours, and yet they get their money's worth more than we do.

At Jeddah Air|x>rt. return flights are usually delayed. Indian and Pakistani airlines issue free lunch/dinner tickets to their passengers when their flights are delayed. Bangladesh Biman should also issue such tickets for lunch/dinner in case of such delays since towards (he end of the pilgrimage. Hajjees usually have very little money left. Due to heavy rush there is acute shortage of trolleys at the airport to carry luggage to customs' room at the time of departure. The Mission could have its own trolleys.

The government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia deserves to be congratulated for providing all possible facilities, amenities for Hajjees. Managing millions of Hajjees. and coordinating a wide range of services for them, providing for their safety and their smooth passage to specific places in all the holy sites within the short time-span is not all easy. So the Missions of many countries play a crucial role. To improve our services for both ballot tees and non-ballottees. Bangladesh Mission needs to be scrutinized and accordingly improvement and changes need to be made with top priority. If necessary, the services of our Defence Force personnel may be used along with that of the Civil Administration.