Srinagar, Mar 4: Nearly 200 Umrah pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir are stranded in Saudi Arabia following the suspension of international flights due to escalating hostilities in West Asia.
Family members and travel agents said the pilgrims, mostly from the Srinagar, Budgam, and Anantnag districts, are currently lodged in hotels in Mecca, Medina, and Jeddah. Their scheduled return flights to India over the past 48 hours were cancelled after multiple carriers suspended operations amid airspace restrictions.
In Srinagar, families are struggling to get clarity on when their relatives will return. Ghulam Mohammad Dar of Nowhatta said his 68-year-old mother, Fatima, is among those stranded. “She calls multiple times a day. She completed her Umrah four days ago and was supposed to come back. We have no information on when the next flight will be,” he told Kashmir Convener.
A family from Dooru Anantnag said their two relatives—in their sixties—are lodged in a Jeddah hotel with nearly 50 other pilgrims from the Valley. “They said the hotel staff is cooperative, but the uncertainty is killing them. One of the relatives told my mother, ‘Hum yahan phans gaye. Dua karo jald se jald nikaal lo’ (We are trapped here. Pray that we are taken out soon),” a family member said.
Another pilgrim’s son from Sopore said his father, a retired government employee, is trying to keep his fellow stranded travelers calm but is himself struggling with anxiety. “He told me, ‘Main yahan logon ko samjha raha hoon, lekin andar se main bhi toot raha hoon. Tum log kuch karo’ (I am counselling people here, but inside I am also breaking down. You people do something),” the son said.
The delay has triggered financial worries for several families. Rouf Ahmad from Bijbehara said his brother and sister-in-law are stuck in a hotel in Medina. “Hotel bills are accumulating. They had not planned for an extended stay. We are appealing to the government to intervene,” he said.
The Indian diplomatic missions in Jeddah and Riyadh have issued helpline numbers and said they are coordinating with tour operators and Saudi authorities.
An official at the Embassy of India stated they are in “continuous touch” with airlines to facilitate the return of Indian nationals once flight operations normalize.
Travel agents in the Valley said they are in contact with ground handlers in Saudi Arabia. “The pilgrims are safe and accommodated. But the longer the disruption continues, the more difficult logistics will become,” said Arshid Ahmad, a travel agent in Lal Chowk, speaking to Kashmir Convener.
A senior official told Kashmir Convener that authorities have advised stranded pilgrims to remain in touch with their tour coordinators and register with the embassy helplines. No timeline has been provided for the resumption of commercial flights. He said that from the government’s end, efforts are ongoing to bring all Indian pilgrims, students, and other businessmen back home from the conflict-hit region.
On Wednesday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also expressed concern for students, pilgrims, and businessmen from the union territory stranded in conflict-hit Iran and other West Asian countries. He stated that he had met with their parents and was monitoring the situation.
He confirmed that the Ministry of External Affairs is working to evacuate all remaining students, and efforts are also underway to bring back all stranded J&K residents from the West Asian countries.
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