Saudi Arabia seeks scapegoat for tragedy in Mina: Commentator
Press TV has conducted an interview with Naseer al-Omari, a writer and political commentator in New York, to discuss the deadly crush in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.
Press TV: This is a very tragic incident. Is this a direct result of Saudi negligence?
Omari: Yes. They like to take the credit for the Hajj when it is successful so they might as well take the responsibility for the Hajj when it is not… but that is not how things are done in Saudi Arabia. Now they are looking for a scapegoat. They are saying the people who perform Hajj themselves are not following directions. So we have like a classic case of all these investigations of wrongdoing in Hajj that do not go anywhere, and people in power, people who own these companies, are the same people who are investigating all these mishaps, so no wonder that nobody is held responsible for anything. In the meanwhile, Muslims come to the Hajj assuming that it is safe and you will never hear the royal family taking any responsibility for this.
Press TV: This is not the first time this has happened. Just this week you had couple of hotel fires that happened including the crane accident that you mentioned along with other incidents in the past, the buck’s got to stop somewhere and there is no accountability. Do you think this time around there is going to be some kind of follow through and if so, who can do this, because obviously you are dealing with Saudi Arabia?
Omari: I doubt it. You are talking about institutions that are accountable to the same individuals. They are the same wealthy individuals who run these construction companies. They are the same people who are responsible for reviewing the Hajj procedures, so you do not have checks and balances. This will be swept under the carpet and unfortunately more Muslims will come assuming that it is a safe place, it is supposed to be the safest place on Earth, and unfortunately they have their nice places for the Saudi royal family where they can perform Hajj safely, but when it comes to these poor people who spend their money to come and do this pilgrimage, they are exposed to all kinds of dangers, and it is always ‘fate,’ it is always, ‘Allah is responsible for this,’ yet when it goes right, it is the Saudi royal family that gets the credit for it.
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