Pakistani Haji untraceable in Saudi Arabia

Haji Ghafoor had gone for Hajbut yet to return home

PESHAWAR: Imdad Ullah Khayal has been running from pillar to post for more than four months to locate his elderly father who went missing during the pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia last August.

He has had no luck until now as Haji Abdul Ghafoor Khan is still untraceable. Neither the Saudi nor the Pakistani authorities have been able to give any reassuring information to Imdad Ullah as to the fate of his father.

By now, Imdad Ullah has approached the Religious Affairs Ministry in Islamabad, the Saudi embassy in Pakistan, the media and whoever else can offer him any help.

However, his question about the whereabouts of his father has remained unanswered. The family, belonging to Masoodkhel village in Charsadda district, is in a state of mourning. It doesn't know what happened to Haji Abdul Ghafoor and whether he will be able to return home one day.

Haji Abdul Ghafoor, having Pakistan's passport number NY 4138111 left for Medina Munawwara in a flight from Peshawar on August 18, 2016 to perform Hajj. The flight PK-2301 safely reached Medina as described by his fellow passengers, some of whom knew Haji Abdul Ghafoor. He was put up in Building 817 and was listed in Maktab 91 in Medina.

The next day, ie August 19, Haji Abdul Ghafoor went missing from Masjid Nabawi, the mosque of Holy Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him). According to his fellow pilgrims, Haji Abdul Ghafoor had an altercation with a Saudi policeman at the mosque, but the issue was resolved through reconciliation and everyone thought the matter was over.

However, it now appears the matter was far from resolved. According to Imdad Ullah, he has got some reports that his father was taken away by the personnel of the Saudi intelligence. There has been no official confirmation by the Saudi or Pakistani officials about this piece of information. Imdad Ullah, who is working as an executive secretary at OGRA in the Cabinet Division, Islamabad, first sought help from the Religious Affairs Ministry to find his father.

He was told that federal Religious Affairs Minister Sardar Mohammad Yousaf and secretary of the ministry were taking personal interest in the matter and were in touch with the Saudi Arabian government to seek its cooperation in locating the missing pilgrim. He was informed later that the ministry had set up a team headed by the director general Hajj to pursue the matter.

As there was no progress in locating the missing Haji, Imdad Ullah on October 13 wrote a letter to the Saudi ambassador in Islamabad urging him to help locate his father. He is still waiting to hear from the Saudis if they have any information about Haji Abdul Ghafoor.It is strange that a pilgrim had gone missing in August 2015 and more than four months later there is still no information about him. All this happened in the blessed and peaceful city of Medina in broad daylight. Pilgrims saw him when he had an argument with a Saudi cop and they are aware that subsequently the issue was amicably resolved. His family wants to know what happened next and who seized him and where was he taken away. Both the Saudi and Pakistani authorities owe it to Imdad Ullah and his family to tell him the truth about Haji Abdul Ghafoor's whereabouts. The family needs to know about his fate to put an end to its agony.