Unforgivable mismanagement
It is because of the mismanagement typical of this government that the Mina tragedy has reached the Senate, inviting sharp criticism from the PPP which culminated in a walkout from the Upper House. The religious affairs ministry has never been known to be up to scratch on much, but its procrastination and incompetence to deal with this tragedy has still managed to surprise practically everybody. First the minister disappeared to the holy land himself – allegedly to seek and provide information about the dead and missing. Then, after taking forever to return, he could add nothing to information already collected by grieving and disturbed families and journalists.
To make matters worse, the government does not seem much troubled by its religious ministry’s inability to function normally. Nobody has been called to account. And there has been no effort, so far, to make up for the bad show. It is, of course, too much to ask for true democratic practices, which means those responsible for such negligence bow out gracefully, or are made to go. No such thing is the norm in this Islamic Republic, unfortunately.
There is also the added gag on the media about questioning the official Saudi response to the tragedy. It seems those who have had the bad fortune to be associated with people who fell, or got lost, in the stampede are condemned to suffer the fallout of this drive of political correctness. The religious affairs minister says every possible angle is being looked into to facilitate victims and their families, even though no such step is visible. The Saudis continue to say their Hajj preparations are fool-proof, and Mina was just an aberration, and everybody is forced to agree with the statement. And those whose relatives were killed, or have yet not been found, await a miracle, because there is little hope of progress on the ground anytime soon.
