Around 50% drop in IIOJK’s Umrah pilgrims this Ramadan due to rising poverty
Srinagar: This Ramadan witnessed around a fifty per cent decline in the number of pilgrims undertaking Umrah from Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, with travel operators citing rising poverty as the primary factor. The sharp declines exposes the hollow claims of Modi-led Indian regime about so-called development and progress in the territory after the revocation of Article 370 in 2019.
According to Kashmir Media Service, industry representatives said, pilgrim numbers have decreased by over 40 percent compared to previous years.
General Secretary of the All Jammu Kashmir Hajj Tour Operators Association, Umar Nazir Tibetbaqal told the media in Srinagar that Umrah package costs have increased manifold this Ramadan.
“It is one of the reasons why there is a dip in Umrah pilgrimage. During this month,” Tibetbaqal said.
According to statistics shared by the association, Kashmir typically sends between 35,000 to 40,000 pilgrims to Umrah annually.
Junaid Ahmad, an executive with a local travel company, said, “Because of financial constraints, most Kashmiris prefer to perform the pilgrimage when the package rates are relatively low”.
Bashir Ahmad, a 58-year-old resident of Srinagar who had been saving for years to perform Umrah during Ramadan, expressed his disappointment at having to postpone his plans.
“I had been dreaming of performing Umrah during the blessed month for the past three years. But when I inquired about the package this year, the cost was simply beyond my budget,” Ahmad said. “The prices have nearly doubled from what they were when I first started saving. Now I have to wait another year and hope the situation improves.”
