Saudi goes hi-tech for hajj pilgrimage
To cope with ‘security headache’ at world’s largest
human assembly :
SAUDI ARABIA: The annual hajj pilgrimage that draws millions
of Muslim faithful to Mecca has gone hi-tech this year, with the Saudi
authorities calling in latest electronic aides to help control the vast
crowds. Coping with the world’s largest annual human assembly poses a
security headache for Saudi Arabia, guardian of the two holiest Muslim
shrines in the cities of Mecca and Medina, the birthplaces of Islam.
The ministry of religious affairs sends 3.25 million text messages
each day to the mobile phones of pilgrims to inform them of correct
procedures for the hajj rites so as to “prevent that which is harmful,”
according to ministry official Sheikh Talal al-Uqail, cited by the
official SPA news agency.
The messages managed by more than 3,000 clerics, translators and
administrators aim to correct “errors” made by some pilgrims, the report
said. At the same time, Saudi authorities follow and manage the movement
of the swarms of pilgrims by means of electronic monitors which track
each and every pilgrim during the five-day hajj, according to Saudi
Minister of Hajj Fuad al-Farsi.
The religious police meanwhile post videos and documents for the
guidance of pilgrims on video-sharing website YouTube, accessible at
http://www.youtube.com/user/movieshajj.
And for the first time this year, the hajj is being streamed live on
YouTube in cooperation with the Saudi government. The stream can be seen
at youtube.com/hajjlive.
More than two million Muslims flocked Saturday to Mount Arafat and
its surrounding plain, marking the peak day of the hajj.
There were no immediate reports of major incidents as security
officials focused on crowd control. “Things are going well and according
to plan,” interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki told AFP.
AFP |