Airport authorities return Hajj flight to Delhi

• Hajj flights were not allowed to land because Mehbooba was busy somewhere else: Relatives of Hajjis
• Flights aren’t allowed to land at Srinagar airport after sunset: SP Airport

The Srinagar Airport authorities Thursday returned an Air India A1-5102 flight carrying Hajj pilgrims to Valley from Jeddah while another flight wasn’t even allowed to take off from New Delhi Airport citing bad weather and non-availability of evening landing facilities.
Sources told Kashmir Post that as the first Hajj flight A1-5102 carrying Haj pilgrims of Valley reached the Srinagar airport, authorities sent it back to New Delhi.
Another Hajj flight A1-5104, which was scheduled an hour later, was stopped from taking off from the Delhi airport, they said.
The Hajj flights were scheduled to reach Srinagar airport at 4.30 pm and 5.35 pm respectively today.
Eyewitnesses said SSP Budgam, Tejinder Singh who was present at the airport, told the relatives of the Hajj pilgrims that the cancellation had been caused due to bad weather.
However, this did not go with the relatives of the Hajj pilgrims.
They alleged that the flights were cancelled as Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who was supposed to come and receive the Hajj pilgrims, was busy somewhere else.
Later, the relatives of the Hajj pilgrims staged protest and resorted to anti-government and pro-freedom sloganeering at the airport.
Sources told Kashmir Post that people also chanted slogans like “Nagpur Sarkar hai hai”, “BJP hai hai”.
The paramilitary forces stationed at the airport resorted to lathicharge to disperse the protesting relatives of Hajj pilgrims, causing further chaos at the airport.
SSP Budgam, Tejinder Singh told Kashmir Post that the flight was cancelled due to which people got agitated.
He said they resorted to sloganeering but denied that protesters were lathicharged.
“There was no lathi charge either from police or CRPF men,” Singh said.
SP Airport, Manzoor Ahmad Dalal told Kashmir Post that the Hajj flight from Jeddah was late and reached Srinagar after sunset.
He said as per the civil aviation ministry guidelines, flights aren’t allowed to land at Srinagar airport after sunset.
Manzoor said the relatives of pilgrims had reached the airport in the afternoon and when in evening the flights were cancelled, they got agitated.
He however refuted the claims that there was lathicharge to quell the protests.
Minister of State for Hajj and Auqaf, Farooq Andrabi wasn’t available for comments as his phone was continuously switched off.