Devotees who are scheduled for Haj pilgrimage are facing problems due to Haj guides that are available in Hindi language, despite having given choice of Urdu language.
The Haj guides have been made available by the Haj Committee of India (HCI) only in Hindi language. This is causing problems to the pilgrims, as many of them, despite being literate can only read and write Urdu.
Dr Yousuf Khalil, a pilgrim, who has been selected for Haj 2017 along with his father and mother received the Haj Guide on Friday and to his surprise it was in Hindi despite the fact that he opted for it in Urdu while filling the Haj application form.
Dr Khalil while talking to The Pioneer over the issue said, “I was surprised to see that the HCI has sent Haj Guide in Hindi, though I am well versed with the language but my parents are not and there are many like them.”
Dr Khalil further said that this is when we clearly ticked on Urdu in the options while filling the application form. “On getting the guide in Hindi I called on the HCI where I was told to return the Hindi guide and after getting that back they would dispatch the one in English,” he added.
He said that I enquired from other pilgrims also and was amazed to hear that everyone has got the guide in Hindi only, after that I wrote a letter to the CEO of the HCI asking them to send the guide in local language of the pilgrims as Hindi is not known to all.
However, the Madhya Pradesh State Haj Committee (MPSHC) chairman Haji Inayat Hussain Qureshi who is also the member for Central Zone Haj Committee (CZHC) expressed ignorance that the guide has been sent. CZHC comprises five States of the country including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha.
Qureshi said, “The guide is not yet dispatched and that it would be sent after the month of Ramzan.” When informed by this correspondent that the pilgrims have started getting it and that is only in Hindi Qureshi replied that it is printed in English and Urdu also and if someone has problem in Hindi guide they could contact me for Urdu or English copy.