Government to blame for stampede in Mina: Gus Dur

Tiarma Siboro and A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian government should take the blame for the death of 54 pilgrims in a stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia on Sunday, a noted Muslim leader said.

Former president and former chairman of the country's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid said on Thursday that the government did not provide clear guidance on how and when to perform the devil-stoning rite.

"If we refer to the Wahabi sect's regulations, the pilgrims should perform the devil-pelting rite in the afternoon, but the government (reportedly) never told our pilgrims what time they should go. So the incident was our government's fault," Gus Dur said.

"I understand the situation because I once went for a pilgrimage and no government official informed us about the procedures. Of course, the lack of information meant that we could go to Mina anytime we wanted ... in the morning, afternoon or evening," Gus Dur explained during a press conference at the NU headquarters on Thursday.

He scolded the leaders in Jakarta and instructed them to stop looking for a scapegoat in the tragedy, saying that the Saudi government was not responsible.

Over 250 pilgrims, including 54 Indonesians, were killed in a stampede during the stoning ritual, or jumroh, in Mina, near Mecca, Saudi Arabia on Sunday morning.

On Wednesday, chairman of the country's second largest Muslim organization Muhammadiyah Syafii Maarif criticized this government for not taking any action, but simply assuming it was God's will.

"It's ridiculous to consider the incident God's will. It happened because of poor haj management," Syafii told reporters.

NU chairman Hasyim Muzadi urged the government authorities in charge of the Indonesian contingent to improve the haj management, especially the time schedules when they can throw their stones at the pillars that represent satan.

"The government should continuously update our haj pilgrims about their scheduled time," Hasyim said.

Several haj pilgrims had claimed that they were never told there was to be an allotted time for the trek to Mina.

Acting Minister for Religious Affairs Jusuf Kalla claimed that the Saudi government had scheduled Indonesian pilgrims and other pilgrims from Southeast Asian countries to go to Mina between 4 p.m and 10 p.m.

He claimed that the incident happened at 9 a.m, obviously with a lot of Indonesians involved, but the morning schedule had been allocated for pilgrims from Arab and African countries.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs's Haj Information Office head Nunun Firdaus suspected that Indonesian group leaders had not informed their fellow pilgrims about the stoning schedule.

"It's also possible that the pilgrims just opted to defy that rule and go at whatever time they wanted. We could not prohibit them," Nunun said.

He rejected suggestions that officers in charge of the haj pilgrimage be investigated for not informing the people about the schedule.

"It's just a suggested time. It's not an obligation for the pilgrims to obey," he said.

Nunun also ruled out suggestions that an independent be set up to handle the haj pilgrimage, claiming it would create a bigger mess, because it would become profit-oriented.

"Two years ago, some 30,000 haj pilgrims organized by a private company ran into difficulties. Finally, the government helped them," he said.

Several non-governmental organizations earlier suggested to the House of Representatives (DPR) that an independent body be set up to manage the haj pilgrimage.