HAJ STAMPEDE-AGAIN- SAUDIS MUST ANSWER

Tragic scenes in Saudi Arabia in yet another Haj Stampede in which thousands were killed and many more injured. The incident managed to expose the injustices and fallacies committed by the ruling clan of KSA, the royal house of Saud. Their prejudices and wrongdoings are well known but many turn a blind eye due to one reason or another, the main reason usually being fear of the totalitarian regime and their harsh punishments. The tragic accident highlighted the ugliness of the situation. The religious tourism business in Saudi is generating billions of dollars for the House of Saud and their plan for expansion of this lucrative trade is defacing the archaeological identity of Muslim Holy city of Mecca. More so, the operational mismanagement in particular during Haj season is costing the lives of the pilgrims from all over the world. These people pay huge amounts of money to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to fulfill their religious obligations but are still faced with difficulties and racism.

The stampede on this years pilgrimage caused around 1400 deaths.Iran among other nations blame the stampede on the Saudi royals movement which forced the closure of an exit resulting in the incident. However the Saudi government laid the blame on the pilgrims for causing the stampede themselves. The information wars go on, raising questions that are still not being answered by the rulers of the Islamic holy land.

• Why is there  consistent repeated failure in managing the pilgrimage?

• Why, despite this repeated failure causing the tragic loss of lives are the Saudis only concentrating on expanding their billion dollar religious tourism business ?

• Why are healthcare facilities the least priority in the 60 billion dollar expansion of Mecca that focuses on the hotel industry alone?

• Finally, why is the concept of human rights and freedom of speech in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bottom of their governance priority? 

The only answer to all these questions from the House of Saud and their paid clergy is that it is their God given right to rule their lands as they please. The Arab cultural arrogance is automatically displayed once it comes to answering questions like this.

The kingdom's crisis management inevitably always resorts to information and media blackout, however, on this occasion hajis (pilgrims) on their return to their respective countries are challenging the Arab's claim to divinity. There is a general feeling of disgust and displeasure towards the Saudi regime for the first time ever among the conservative Sunni Muslims. This dust won't settle easily for the House of Saud and their minions operating around the globe.

The house of Saud held a clout over the Sunni Muslim world through funding their religious schools and their religious leaders in each respective country. The establishment of mosques around the globe funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and similar investments buy them this leverage to maintain dominance over the Shia Muslim religious establishments similarly led and funded by Iran. Iran on the other hand, irrespective of all its troubles is winning the war of influence through ideology and the info wars. The credit of this advantage to Iran in the Arab-Persian conflict goes to the inefficiency and mismanagement of Saudi Arabia by her rulers who have in turn employed equally inept managers to run their Kingdom's affairs. Iran is fully utilizing the opportunities provided by the Saudis by exposing the fragile nature of perceptions about the Houses of the Arab Royals.The nature of the armed encounters in this great Middle Eastern war of influence between the Arabs and Persians is written in blood and terror, however that's another tragic story.

Arab Royals live overly extravagant lifestyles around the globe. Some of them even commit felonies abroad and get away with them by leaving in their private jets and using their billion dollar individual assets. The western world is their summer play ground while the rest of the year they enjoy the palaces and estates in their kingdoms run by expats who are treated like slaves. They are given state level protocol by the Muslim countries they visit and whose leaders they fund and many hold shady business empires made over the oil money all around the globe.

The lower oil prices have fundamentally created the first ever budget deficit at the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This called for the diversification of the Saudi economy which is heavily dependent on the oil revenues. As a result the most profitable diversification of the Saudi economy is in the shape of expansion of the Haj and Umra pilgrimage business. The Muslim holy pilgrimages in Mecca and Medina form the top tourist destination globally. It is not only the most frequented  place visited by religious tourists, but also promises to hold this status for the foreseeable future. It can be seen as an excellent business plan, hence its execution by the House of Saud even at the cost of death and misery of the very people paying to keep the business running. The focus of this religious tourism business is the hotel industry while unforgivably neglecting the healthcare and fire and rescue facilities required to run this mega operation that generates their billions in profits.

It is known as the hospitality industry around the globe but hospitality is the least displayed trait here except to those who are the guests of the ruling house or their paid clergy.The difficulty in concealing this matter is apparent on this occasion .They will have to invest in the healthcare and mass management apparatus providing adequate emergency and rescue services matching the nature of the biggest and most congested human gatherings in the world. They will have to address the problem areas highlighted repeatedly if they don't want to be forced to answer the questions that they are not answering still. They will have to improve their present management and change their attitudes which seems highly unlikely.

The Saudis need to realise that the world they are living in today is a global village with access to the majority of information and incidents. They will loose their authority, prestige and influence if their attitudes fail to change. The Pakistani parliaments refusal to send the Pakistani Army to Yemen to fight for the Saudi empire is just the beginning. It predicts the loss of dominance of the house of Saud in the Sunni Muslim world if they fail to mend their ways. The Saudis in their arrogance are not making or keeping friends they desperately require to sustain their kingdom's influence around the globe and domestically. Much to their dismay, democracies around the world are debating the Saudi behaviour . These democracies include the Sunni majority Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Uncomfortable questions are being asked which will have to be addressed by the Saudis at some point, whether they like it or not. The mirage is finally being seen for what it is.