Indonesia has decided to renounce the pilgrimage to Mecca this year because of the risks associated with the coronavirus, authorities in the Southeast Asian country with the largest Muslim population in the world announced on Tuesday (June 2nd).
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The estimated 221,000 Indonesian pilgrims registered to participate in the hajj in Saudi Arabia this year, a pilgrimage that every Muslim must undertake at least once in his life if he can, will have to delay their plans. "It was a difficult and bitter decision , " said Minister of Religious Affairs Fachrul Razi during a televised press conference. " But it is our responsibility to protect our pilgrims and those who work for hajj" .
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The global coronavirus pandemic has cast doubt on the pilgrimage this year, and Saudi authorities have yet to announce whether the hajj, slated for late July, will continue. Last month, Indonesia, which sends the largest contingent of pilgrims each year, urged Riyadh to announce its decision on the holding of the hajj and Indonesian President Joko Widodo raised the issue in a telephone conversation with King Salman, said the minister.
"God had other plans"
Jakarta had studied the possibility of sending half the contingent of pilgrims planned to limit the risks, but finally decided to ask the pilgrims to give up their trip this year. The pilgrimage is a key source of income for the Saudi kingdom but could become a major source of contamination if pilgrims are infected with Covid-19.
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Indonesia's decision caused great disappointment among some pilgrims who had been waiting for several years to participate in the hajj. “I knew it was a possibility but now that it's official, it breaks my heart. I 've been waiting for this for years , ” explains, crying, Ria Taurisnawati, a 37-year-old civil servant. “All my preparations were made, my clothes were ready and I made all the vaccines. But God had other plans, ” she said to AFP.
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